Harry Potter Festival and Costume Thinkeries
Well, the HP thing was intense! Hard to find anything, must have been thousands of people all squashed into a not-that-wide main street... There were quite a few tents set up here and there, but their signs were placed about head height (if they had signs!) so you couldn't see where things were from a distance. We got an Uber there, because we were warned that parking was basically a no-go after early-o'clock, but it took almost an hour to drive a 25 min. route because the roads were backed up a few miles out, so even leaving at noon we didn't get there till 1, and we wanted to leave by 4:30, so... Last night I finally closed the tab I'd left open of the stuff available at the event, and was shocked at how much was apparently going on! They handed out a little map of the town centre with locations of various things, but I'm assuming that if you didn't print out the schedule from the website then you were SOL. I don't really know how they could improve it, specifically, without it becoming a logistical nightmare, but SOMETHING ought to be done. Just walking up and down the street was incredibly difficult due to there being SUCH press of people! Every food/drink location meant standing in a line for half an hour, which is just Not Okay.
Despite all this whining, it was still enjoyable. What I enjoyed the most was seeing so many people in various costumes. HP scarves abounded, of course, and there were plenty of people in licensed Hogwarts robes. There was a Gilderoy Lockhart walking around in silver and white brocade robes, some McGonagalls, some Death Eaters (who posed holding their wand to people's throats for pictures!), a guy with a gigantic golden white-winged ball on his head as a Golden Snitch, some Hagrids... Only the one official Harry/Ron/Hermione group, though, which was a little surprising. And we didn't see any Malfoys, oddly. At the end of the day we headed toward the Quidditch Tournament (held on the campus of Chestnut Hill College) as a good location to get an Uber out, but we got there after they'd stopped playing. Sadface. I'm definitely tossing around ideas for going in the future, however! Most important: get there Super Duper Early, bring food, memorize schedule and locations. Also wearing costumes that match, like a group of Quidditch players or aurors or something. Side-note - I was very glad of my interior robe pockets, both because they were useful, and it was surprisingly fun to reach inside for things...not sure why!
I mustn't spend too much brainpower on thinking HP thoughts right now, however, because I need to start planning clothes for Newcastle in December if I'm to be well-attired! I need a winter day dress, a coat, possibly another evening/dance dress...
Pumpkin Tea is next, but I have plenty of clothing for that so I needn't rush to make anything! I only need to trim the new bonnet I just commissioned from mandie_rw.
Despite all this whining, it was still enjoyable. What I enjoyed the most was seeing so many people in various costumes. HP scarves abounded, of course, and there were plenty of people in licensed Hogwarts robes. There was a Gilderoy Lockhart walking around in silver and white brocade robes, some McGonagalls, some Death Eaters (who posed holding their wand to people's throats for pictures!), a guy with a gigantic golden white-winged ball on his head as a Golden Snitch, some Hagrids... Only the one official Harry/Ron/Hermione group, though, which was a little surprising. And we didn't see any Malfoys, oddly. At the end of the day we headed toward the Quidditch Tournament (held on the campus of Chestnut Hill College) as a good location to get an Uber out, but we got there after they'd stopped playing. Sadface. I'm definitely tossing around ideas for going in the future, however! Most important: get there Super Duper Early, bring food, memorize schedule and locations. Also wearing costumes that match, like a group of Quidditch players or aurors or something. Side-note - I was very glad of my interior robe pockets, both because they were useful, and it was surprisingly fun to reach inside for things...not sure why!
I mustn't spend too much brainpower on thinking HP thoughts right now, however, because I need to start planning clothes for Newcastle in December if I'm to be well-attired! I need a winter day dress, a coat, possibly another evening/dance dress...
Pumpkin Tea is next, but I have plenty of clothing for that so I needn't rush to make anything! I only need to trim the new bonnet I just commissioned from mandie_rw.