Wizards and witches, muggles and aurors and giants will be coming together July 27 to celebrate all things Harry Potter at the annual “Party That Shall Not Be Named” being held at Naperville’s Nichols Library.
The free, all-ages event from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. will feature escape rooms, scavenger hunts, a quidditch tournament, a wand-making class and plenty of other activities tied to the J.K. Rowling book series.
Ellen Fitzgerald, children’s services supervisor for the Naperville Public Library and co-chair for the event, said the popular books lend themselves to fun programs for anyone from kids to seniors.
“Harry Potter and the world of wizards and magic appeals to a really large group of people,” Fitzgerald said. “People want to believe that magic exists in the world and these books written by J.K. Rowling are a huge hit all over the world because of it.”
This is the first year activities will not be spread out all over downtown Naperville but confined to the 200 W. Jefferson Ave. library, which will be transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Downtown Naperville Alliance decided to opt out this year, Fitzgerald said.
That said, there will be even more things to do this year than there were in years’ past, she said.
“We tried to change things up by offering new programs such as Lumos Bingo and Bathilda Bagshot’s History of Magic Jeopardy,” Anne Bultman, adult and teen services supervisor for the Naper Blvd. Library, said in a news release about the upcoming day of events.
One of the highlights will be the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where participants will have to guide a Sphero Bolt through three courses, she said. The fastest will win the Tri-Wizard Cup.
“We have crafts, treasure hunts, escape rooms, wand lessons, games, potions lessons, Quidditch practice, story times, 3D pens and a green screen booth,” Bultman said in the release. “Although this party is based around the Harry Potter books, it is a chance for families to come to the library to have fun, but to also get information on other books and services the library offers.”
For a schedule of events and more information on the party, go to www.naperville-lib.org/programs/party-shall-not-be-named.
They are also looking for volunteers to help with activities. Go to www.naperville-lib.org/about/volunteer-library for more details.
