Have you read each of the Harry Potter books and seen every movie several times? Are you still waiting on your Hogwarts acceptance letter? Are you a muggle who has yet to experience much of Harry Potter but are looking to get into the Wizarding World more? Then there’s an upcoming celebration just for you.
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library invites you to Harry Potter Day! This magical event will be held on Saturday, June 22nd from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the downtown Central Library located at 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY. There will be many fun and completely free activities held throughout the day in the library, and weather permitting, outside of it.
This event will mark the beginning of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System’s Summer Reading initiative – A Universe of Stories, and will begin with an announcement about the initiative at noon. Some of the exciting activities for all ages include Hogwarts house sorting, potion making, Mandrake planting, Quidditch matches, fortune telling, trivia contests, and much more! Buffalo Animal Adventures will be in attendance with their various magical creatures as well. Casting spells and playing Quidditch can work up an appetite, but don’t fret. Food trucks will be available outside the library.
Perhaps the most exciting Harry Potter Day event to look forward to is the live performance by Harry and the Potters at 4:00 p.m. Harry and the Potters is a popular wizard rock band from Massachusetts that performs songs all about Harry Potter and the Wizarding World. They have an impressively large discography and have played over 800 shows in libraries, clubs, bookstores, and basements all around the world. You can find out more about the band and listen to their music here.
Several other libraries in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System will also be offering Harry Potter related programming this month on the 15th (today). At 11:00 a.m., the Leroy Coles, Jr. Branch Library will be holding a program on Wizarding Wand Creation. At 1:00 p.m., the Isaías González-Soto Branch Library invites you to join them as they count down to Summer Reading with a day of crafts and fun including a hunt for magical creatures and making your own wand and snitch. Also, the Dudley Branch Library will be hosting butterbeer making and button making from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Since originating in a series of novels, Harry Potter has become a pop culture staple as iconic as James Bond or Bugs Bunny, so this will be an especially exciting event for people of all ages. Plus, it is completely free! If you’re a Harry Potter fan who wants to have a magical experience, or a parent trying to introduce your child to the Wizarding World, I recommend grabbing your wand and time turner and coming down to the library to celebrate Harry Potter Day.