Medieval characters take over Scouts Camp near Mineville

Over 300 Scouts and Pathfinders descended upon Camp Harris to try and fight a dragon.

“It’s a little bit of live-action role-play. It’s dungeons and dragons, it’s comic-con, it’s a lot of team work and it’s bridging with the Scouts,” said Kathleen Spilek, a Pathfinder Leader.

Camp Harris is a Scouts Canada camp located outside of Mineville, N.S. on Lawrencetown Lake. Once a year the organization hosts a “Fantasy Camp” weekend.

It’s been happening for the past 25 years and it’s an opportunity for everybody to dress up in costumes.

The participants act out the characters they choose and trudge through the wilderness.

“Ever since I discovered that we were coming I was really, really, really excited. Because I really like this kind of thing and I obviously love camping,” said Aiden, a Cub from Dartmouth.

Over 50 teams travel though the woods, defeating monsters by playing board games and using fake weapons.

There’s a wide range of characters involved, including fairies, mad scientists and warlocks.

The top 10 teams that make it past the monsters go on to battle the dragon.

The dragon, named Shasha, is played by a man named Sheldon O’Brien.

Although fantasy camp is a weekend of entertainment, the youth still get to tent outdoors and connect with nature.

“It just exposes us to new stuff. We can go outdoors and just see different things than we would normally see inside on our devices,” said one Pathfinder from Dartmouth.