Cosplay is a word we tend to apply to specific types of circumstances and situations, but really, it’s any type of costumer. It’s not just people who dress up at conventions. Reenactors are cosplayers of a sort. They make or commission outfits that are historically accurate rather than screen accurate. They turn to the past for reference rather than to a video game or a film. And recently, 5,000 (!) such reenactors gathered to re-create the Battle of Waterloo.

The battle that took place on June 18, 2015, was fought by the French army and the Seventh Coalition. The recent reenactment brought an unheard of number of dedicated costumers together to perform in front of 200,000 spectators. Photojournalist Olivier Papagenies captured images from the event and even the small slice of the reenactment the photos show is absolutely incredible.

Photos by Olivier Papegnies, and you can see more images from the event here.

via Kotaku