Calgary neighbourhood celebrates Harry Potter's birthday by becoming Diagon Alley
Kensington shops serving up butterbeer and chocolate frogs
- The latest on this story: Roads closed as thousands descend on Kensington for Harry Potter-themed day
Some Calgary businesses are serving up butterbeer, chocolate frogs and Hogwarts breakfast bennies.
The wizarding world is taking over the shopping district of Kensington on Sunday, transforming the area into Diagon Alley.
- MORE CALGARY NEWS | Concussion lawsuit should be slammed, says former pro wrestler
- MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Lesbians are 'hot' pro-oilsands Facebook post removed, apology made
It's all in celebration of two big occasions: Harry Potter's 36th birthday and the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the script for a new play being performed in London's West End,
The muggle who organized the magical event said it wasn't hard to get businesses on board.
"There's still a really Harry Potter zeitgeist out here. It's a little bit of magic that we're all not ready to give up yet," Alex May told the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday.
Costumes, quidditch and golden snitches
Harry Potter fans are encouraged to dress up in costume and check out the many stores that are decorated like the Diagon Alley shops in the Harry Potter novels.
For example, Pages will take a page from Flourish and Blott's Bookstore and Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut is dressing up as Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
"All of their beautiful boxes that are already wrapped in the copper just really lent themselves well to a bank kinda feel," said May.
"They're going to have white chocolate owls, like Hedwig."
Pumpkin Juice (an iced pumpkin latte) and Polyjuice Potion (chocolate matcha latte, hot or iced) is on offer at the Red Bush Tea and Coffee Company and there will also be 20 golden snitches hidden in the area.
May said if you find one, take a selfie with it and and tweet out the photo with the #snapthesnitch to be entered into a draw to win a prize.
Spend A Day in Kensington Diagon Alley runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here are some events Potter fans won't want to miss:
-
Calgary Kelpies Quidditch and the University of Calgary Mudbloods will battle each other on brooms at Riley Park from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- Storybook Theatre is doing a staged reading at the Plaza Theatre of the new Harry Potter play 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can with proceeds going J.K. Rowling's Lumos charity and the Ellie Tims Project.