Carrboro’s Town Commons has seen plenty of events and activity over the years – but perhaps nothing like the Carrboro Cardboard War held on Saturday afternoon.
Swords, spears, knives and hammers – all made of cardboard – were carried from vehicles to the battlefield on the chilly winter afternoon. Dozens of people donned their chest plates and helmets, either glued or taped together and some decorated with paint. Others circled up around the edge of the public space to monitor the battle.
Before the action, all of the cardboard items were inspected to confirm they were safe and each participant took a pledge of safety led by organizer and Chapel Hill High School student Jessica Love.
“‘I am just a nerd that likes to play with cardboard,’” Love had the crowd recite. “’I know this is just a game and I will be friendly with other players. I will not cause problems for the staff or other players, and I will have fun beating each other up with cardboard.’”
Then, the mayhem began. Two groups lined up and charged toward each other. People began swinging their makeshift weapons, trying to find weak points in armor and attempting to knock each other over. The town commons ground was filled with the ‘thunks’ of cardboard weapons meeting the armor. When someone’s torso or upper body protection was dismantled – or, in some cases, when they were toppled over – they were declared out of the battle. If someone’s weapon was damaged, they had to survive by running around or visiting the weapons repair stand set up by a young participant who wanted to contribute without being caught in the heat of battle.
While she largely surveyed and enforced the rules on Saturday, Love told Chapelboro she was inspired by wanting to take part in this type of event. She described seeing videos online from a group in Australia that started a similar cardboard-driven event years ago, which has evolved into elaborate battles held at festival grounds.
“A bunch of guys get together and build suits of cardboard, like this, and they fight each other ‘to the death,’” said Love. “I was actually searching for things [to do] like this, and I found out there was nothing around. So, I was like, ‘I’m a high schooler now, I know how to do events and stuff.’”
The Carrboro Cardboard War brought out all ages, although most participants skewed on the younger side. Chapel Hill resident Alan Nguyen joined his two sons out on the battlefield, saying he discovered the event on Reddit and knew his children would be excited to play. He said they quickly assembled their outfits at home before coming to the town commons.
“My kids love fighting and they love building stuff, and those two go hand in hand,” he said with a laugh.
“My wife has a store, which [sells] stained glass stuff, so I took care of all the boxes,” Nguyen said of his armor, with his helmet made from an old fan box. “We only started an hour before and just started hacking stuff together the best we could.”
Chapel Hill resident Ian Ostrowski met a dramatic fate, going down after being ganged up on by some fighters. He said he looked forward to making a second design of knight’s armor for a future Cardboard War.
“I felt like it worked pretty well – it was a little too broad, it restricted a little bit of the arm movement. So, I think next time I need to cut a little more space [and] get a little more range of motion in the arms.
“Definitely going to get an earlier start next time – and I’m going to make a cardboard steed I can ride in on. And I’m hoping that this continues every year, because this was so much fun and hopefully it just grows and grows.”
As the participants began to thin out, the battle evolved. The remaining contenders split into two teams and were allowed to repair their weapons. Eventually, two of the oldest remaining participants – who were nicknamed Feral Boars – were told they had a special job to help it end with a bang: to serve as the final bosses to the group of younger warriors.
The remaining participants listen to instructors to begin the next phase of battle. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Two sides of participants rush at each other for an epic clash of cardboard. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
When the war resumed, the numbers of the knights overwhelmed the Feral Boars and successfully tore their armor off. Afterward, many people came up to thank Love for the idea and for organizing the event. Whether they were a participant, cardboard crafter, or simply a spectator on Saturday, the friendly battle brought a smile to everyone’s faces.
“I mean, we’ve been having a lot of bad times recently in the world,” Love said. “So, being able to blow off a little steam with your community – and being creative, first of all – it’s really good. It’s going to be an annual thing, hopefully!”
Featured photo by Brighton McConnell
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