The annual Knutepunkt conference, first held in 1997, has been a vital institution in establishing a Nordic role-playing identity, and in establishing the concept of "Nordic larp" as a unique approach. Though the conference started out strictly as a Live action role-playing (larp for short) event, it has since embraced role-playing games in a more general fashion. Today the conference still has an emphasis on larp, but programs devoted to traditional tabletop role-playing as well as newer arrivals such as freeform are common.
A live action role-playing avant-garde movement, which pursues radical experimentation and the recognition of role-playing as a form of art, has been connected to the Knutepunkt conferences. The scope of the Knutepunkt conference has expanded rather rapidly over the last few years with participants showing up from numerous non-Scandinavian countries. Since about 2003 Knutepunkt has seen participants from the United States, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, Czech Republic, United Kingdom and Austria, among others.
A shout out to larpers who attended knutepunkt 2013
Name
Knutepunkt is Norwegian for "meeting point", and locally the term is translated into Swedish Knutpunkt, Danish Knudepunkt and Finnish Solmukohta. The name of the convention varies with the organizing country.
History
Knutepunkt 1997 Oslo, Norway
Knutpunkt 1998 Stockholm, Sweden
Knudepunkt 1999 Copenhagen, Denmark
Solmukohta 2000 Helsinki, Finland
Knutepunkt 2001 Oslo, Norway
Knutpunkt 2002 Stockholm, Sweden
Knudepunkt 2003 Copenhagen, Denmark (Feb. 2003)
Solmukohta 2004 Espoo, Finland (Feb. 2004)
Knutepunkt 2005 Oslo, Norway (Feb. 2005)
Knutpunkt 2006 Barnens Ö (Children's Island), Sweden (Apr. 2006)
Knudepunkt 2007. Helsinge, Denmark. (Feb. 2007)
Solmukohta 2008 Nurmijärvi, Finland (Apr. 2008)
Knutepunkt 2009 Haraldvangen, Norway (Apr. 2009)
Knutpunkt 2010 Katrineholm, Sweden (Apr. 2010)
Knudepunkt 2011. Helsinge, Denmark. (Feb. 2011)
Solmukohta 2012 Nurmijärvi, Finland (Apr. 2012)
Knutepunkt 2013 Haraldvangen, Norway (Apr. 2013)
Knutpunkt 2014 Halland, Sweden (3-6 Apr 2014)
Knutepunkt 2015 Knudepunkt village (Midtfyns gymnasium, Ringe fri- og efterskole, Nordagerskolen, Midtfyns fritidscenter), Denmark (12-15 Feb. 2015)
Jesper Donnis, Morten Gade & Line Thorup (eds.): Lifelike. Knudepunkt 2007. ISBN 978-87-989377-1-5. http://www.liveforum.dk/kp07book/
Jaakko Stenros & Markus Montola (eds.): Playground Worlds. Solmukohta 2008. ISBN 978-952-92-3579-7 (print) ISBN 978-952-92-3580-3 (pdf) http://www.ropecon.fi/pw/
Matthijs Holter, Eirik Fatland & Even Tømte (eds.): Larp, the Universe and Everything. Knutepunkt 2009. ISBN 978-82-997102-2-0 http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/2009/book/
Thomas Duus Henriksen, Christian Bierlich, Kasper Friis Hansen & Valdemar Kølle (eds.): Think Larp - Academic Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-04-4 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/think_larp_web.pdf
Claus Raasted (ed.): Talk Larp - Provocative Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-05-1 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/talk_larp_web.pdf
Lars Andresen, Charles Bo Nielsen, Luisa Carbonelli, Jesper Heebøll-Christensen, Marie Oscilowski (eds.): Do Larp - Documentary Writings from KP2011. Published by Rollespilsakademiet in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2011 conference. ISBN 978-87-92507-06-8 http://rollespilsakademiet.dk/kpbooks/do_larp_web.pdf
Juhana Pettersson (ed.): States of Play: Nordic Larp Around the World. Published by Pohjoismaisen roolipelaamisen seura in conjunction with the Solmukohta 2012 conference. ISBN 978-952-67599-4-4 / ISBN 978-952-67599-5-1 (PDF) http://www.nordicrpg.fi/julkaisut/states-of-play/
Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (ed.): “The Knudepunkt 2015 Companion Book.” Published by Rollespilsakademiet, Copenhagen, Denmark in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2015 conference ISBN 978-87-92507-24-2 http://nordiclarp.org/w/images/2/27/Kp2015companionbook.pdf
Charles Bo Nielsen and Claus Raasted (ed.): “The Nordic Larp Yearbook 2014.” Published by Rollespilsakademiet, Copenhagen, Denmark in conjunction with the Knudepunkt 2015 conference ISBN 978-87-92507-23-5 http://nordiclarp.org/w/images/6/6d/Nordiclarpyearbook2014.pdf
Video documentation
In 2011 the Knutepunkt conference was documented in a number of videos now published on the Knudepunkt 2011 Vimeo Channel.