Meara Sauter, 13, of Batavia believes that illusions and living in imaginary worlds have replaced the magicians with top hats, wands, and rabbits of years ago.
“Thanks to things like the Harry Potter books and movies, we enjoy wizards, which are something boys and girls can be, and this is the magic of the new generation,” Sauter said. “It’s fun to experience things like potions and bringing the imaginary world to life.”
Hundreds looking for a trip into fantasy came to the Downtown Aurora Magic Festival, which opened Saturday at 11 a.m., the follow-up to last year’s wildly successful Harry Potter Festival.
Organizers hoped to expand the festival a second day until Warner Bros. withdrew licensing privileges, forcing the event to be rebranded.
Festival director Kate Purl of Aurora acknowledged that rebranding likely affected advance ticket sales as well as sponsorship, but she added that there’s no stopping folks who love illusion and the chance to live in an imaginary world.
“I’ve had a bunch of magicians calling and hoping to come to this event, but it isn’t about black hats and magic wands and pulling out rabbits — this is illusion, not sleight of hand,” Purl said. “We’re looking for people who want to suspend reality as they know it and immerse themselves into another world — people who like ‘Harry Potter’ type magic with wizards and so forth.”
Advance sales totaled about 1,600 — significantly less than last year’s crowd of more than 5,000, but Purl and other organizers said that “bringing that many extra people to downtown Aurora” was a positive thing.
Purl said she hoped visitors would enjoy a last-minute attraction.
“In the last few days, we were able to organize wizard duels, with one squaring off against the other, and the practicing for it went really well,” Purl said. “I think people are going to have a good time with this.”
Abigail Arias of Aurora said she was, in fact, looking forward to dueling it out with one of her friends.
“I like the things from the Harry Potter books, and I’m guessing the dueling will involve putting spells on one another,” Arias said.
Meara Sauter’s mother, Roxanne Sauter, said she was working as a volunteer and was helping to organize the Quidditch games that would be held throughout the afternoon. She added that the festival seemed to be going well despite the rebranding.
“I think people are arriving late due to the early morning rain, but this event provides a lot of opportunities for adults and kids to do things together,” she said. “I know a lot of us volunteering were anxious to get things started.”
Christina Hanson of Villa Park brought her two children, Emily, 10, and Logan, 6, as well as her mother Diane Baratta, who also lives in Villa Park to the event.
Christina said she and her family “are big Harry Potter fans” and that kids of all ages have embraced the character “as the older ones read the books and those that can’t read watch the movies.”
“This is something we can share in as a family, and even though the ‘Harry Potter’ name was withdrawn this year, people are still sharing in the spirit of it,” Christina said.
Baratta said she has enjoyed watching her grandchildren “enjoy the wizard world” and understands that the next generation “has to believe in some magic.”
“This is a way the next generation is creating a culture of its own,” she said.
A total of 30 vendors were also on hand. Emily Hanson said she was looking forward to playing trivia at the festival and admitted she and her friends have their own Harry Potter club.
“Last year in school, we made these necklaces when we were in the third grade, and during our free time, my friends and I would get together and talk about Potter things,” she said.
Jennifer Cook of Oswego said she came to last year’s festival and that while foot traffic was noticeably lighter this year, things overall weren’t so bad.
“I’m glad we came back to this, and actually, I’m kind of glad that it’s not so crowded,” she said. “We’ve already visited the area where they are making potions and the place where they offered amulet making and wands – now we’re going to do some shopping.”
