Tag Archives: Events

SPEWW at Rose City Comic Con 2025

Posted on August 17, 2025 | 1 comment

Rose City Comic Con (RCCC) is just a few weeks away (Sept 5-7) and SPEWW will be there to rep our favorite witches, wizards, and magical beings. This will be our first con as SPEWW and we are excited to see how the new name is received. We had a lot of great feedback at Wizarding Weekend, and hope that is the case here, too.

Come see us outside Hall E, where we will be joined with a few other organizations. We will have our merch, including pins, stickers, magnets, jewelry, and our new Prophecy craft boxes. You can take your photo in our “falling” acceptance letters photo booth.

Try your luck at daily trivia. We will have O.W.L.- and N.E.W.T.-level questions that are new each day. Correct answers can gain you House points, which we tally up at the end of the weekend to announce the winning House. If you get all three questions for the day correct, you have the option to be entered to win a pair of Yule Ball tickets. Correctly answer the bonus WIZard question of the day and get another entry.

We will be bringing all our fantastic beasts, including our dragon Pyxus, our owl Virgil, and our Niffler Nyla. Nyla will be available with her shiny hoard for trinket trading. Bring something sparkly to trade her one-to-one items. If you happen to have some coins on you, she is will also trade with you, and be willing to part with those coins after the Con in order to donate to a deserving charitable organization (TBD).

HoH Summer conducting WotW at Wizarding Weekend

Each day of the con, our dueling witches will be conducting our Way of the Wand workshop for the littles in Rose City Jr. They will be loaned a practice wand and our witches will take them through some warm-up exercises to stretch and then some important wand movements to practice effective and safe spellwork. Every wizard needs to know how to properly hold and brandish a wand. Our times for these workshops are:

Friday 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Saturday 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Sunday 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

We’re still looking for volunteers for RCCC, especially during these times. If you can work 3-4 hours over the weekend, we would love to have you. If you already volunteer, send us an email at PDXHPA (at) gmail. If you are new and would like to volunteer with us, please fill out our volunteer form.

We can’t wait to see you!

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Get Ready For Wizarding Weekend 2025

Posted on June 1, 2025 | 2 comments

UPDATED WITH WEEKEND SCHEDULE AND CHARITY PARTNER

Mark your calendars, because Wizarding Weekend at McMenamin’s Kennedy School is coming this Summer. It’s three days of magic, Friday July 25-Sunday July 27. While we don’t have a schedule yet, here are some things you can look forward to:

Trivia – We run two different trivia sessions. Friday will feature Harry Potter movie trivia and Saturday will feature book trivia.

Costume contests – Saturday and Sunday will have costume contests for both children and adults. The top 3 winners will walk away with awesome prizes.

This year we are trying something new: Saturday will be our normal Harry Potter costume contests and Sunday we are doing Magic Mashup. Combine Harry Potter with another one of your favorite magical fandoms (i.e. Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, Supernatural, etc.). Get creative!

Magical shops – Because we don’t give any money back to the author, as we don’t agree with her views, we bring in local vendors to sell their wizardy wares! There will be three different rooms to browse – Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and Knockturn Alley – with everything from wands to sweets to magical creatures. Vendors have sold out in the past, so make sure to plan accordingly. This is a great opportunity to pick up something special for yourself, or get a head start on holiday shopping and any upcoming birthdays on your list.

Photobooth – Get a shot of you and your friends/family in your best wizard attire (costumes not required, but highly encouraged) in front of our spellbinding backdrop. Props will be provided, if you want to use them.

Pixie scavenger hunt – Test your luck as a magizoologist or just a nature-lover, by scouring the halls of Kennedy School for escaped pixies! Digitally capture them on your muggle device and, after you’ve found each different type of pixie, share their portraits with a member SPEWW to win HOUSE POINTS!

Special Food & Drink – The House Elves of Kennedy School work hard to create a fun menu for the weekend. You can get their regular menu, too, but all bars and restaurants will serve a handful of Potter-inspired foods and drinks, including Butterbeer!

Movies – Each year, Kennedy School runs the Harry Potter movies all weekend long. Look for a schedule on those coming soon for ticket purchases. If you want to spend your whole weekend watching all the movies, you will have a choice of purchasing a Prefect Pass. (We did discuss running different fantastical movies this year, but it was ultimately decided that people look forward to the Harry Potter movies + it enables Kennedy School to give more money to charity.)

Games, House meet-ups, and charitable donations – Every Wizarding Weekend is a chance for us to give back to our amazing community in several ways. One is throwing this event with the help of Kennedy School to give everyone something free and fun to do during the summer. Another is by collecting school supplies (we also take money) for another local nonprofit to help kids in need. This year, we will be collecting for RoseHaven. Harry had a whole vault of gold left to him, but most kids aren’t that lucky. We want them to have the best school year possible.

We will be adding some to-be-determined games into the weekend and also set up some times for House meet-ups where you can find other wizards and witches to connect with.

Our schedule is set with some new things, so if you have questions, you can see the full post.

Friday, July 25
Great Hall : open 5-9pm
Pixie Hunt
Photo booth
Movie Trivia: 7:30pm
Diagon Alley, Knockturn & Hogsmeade: open 5-9pm

Saturday, July 26
Great Hall: open 11am-9pm
Pixie Hunt
Photo booth
Costume contests (kids & adults): 2pm
Book Trivia: 6pm
Wizard Bingo: 7:30pm
Diagon Alley, Knockturn & Hogsmeade: open 11am-7pm

Sunday, July 27
Great Hall: open 11am-7pm
Pixie Hunt
Photo booth
Magic Mash-up Costume contest (kids & adults): 2pm **mash Harry Potter and another magical fandom you love (i.e. Supernatural, LOTR, Percy Jackson, Sabrina)**
Way of the Wand workshop: 5pm
Diagon Alley, Knockturn & Hogsmeade: open 11am-6pm

Wizarding Weekend is all-ages and free to attend. There is plenty of free parking in the Kennedy School lot and the surrounding neighborhood, if you need to bring your own muggle transport. It’s also right on the bus line. Unfortunately, there is no Floo Network hooked up, due to the Statute of Secrecy, so please plan ahead for travel time.

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PDXpelliarmus Is Looking For Volunteers

Posted on May 21, 2025 | Leave a comment

Are you looking for a fun way to get involved in community action and give back? How does helping to run fandom events with other awesome and magical nerds sound? We fight for change and equity through the things we enjoy. We work hard, but we also have the best time doing it. We’re looking for volunteers to help us run our big events like Wizarding Weekend (a post on that is coming soon), Yule Ball, and even manning our booth at Rose City Comic Con. If this sounds like something that you’d love to get involved with, we will be holding a drop-in meet this Saturday from 11am-1pm at Battle Grounds Gaming Cafe, where you can ask us questions and generally just get to know us and our whole vibe. *ahem* It’s very witchy and nerdy.

We’re going to be holding more meet-ups like this in the future, so if you can’t make this one, don’t worry! We are going to also be planning one for June. In the meantime, you’re more than welcome to fill out our volunteer form, so we can learn more about you and get you on our list. We are accommodating to most needs, so whether you need a chair to sit in for an entire event, you want to work with a buddy, or you can only come help for an hour, we would love to have you join us. Come say hi, leave us your contact info, grab a drink, and find a fun game. We’re here to make magic and we can’t do it without help.

When: 11am-1pm – May 24, 2025

Where: the private room of Battle Grounds Gaming Cafe – 3738 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97232

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Come See Us at Portland Fan Expo 2025

Posted on January 14, 2025 | Leave a comment

It’s 2025 and our first event is coming up! Fan Expo is the place for all your fandom dreams to come true. The show will run January 24-26 and will be packed with fun people, activities, and panels.

It’s not quite as large as Rose City Comic Con, but that comes with more opportunity to connect to your favorite celebrities, artists, and fellow fans. PDXpelliarmus will be there to promote equality for all witches and wizards, but also sell merch, have a magical photo op, a chance to win prizes, play trivia for House Points, and raising money for a great cause. You can find us at booth #450.

Check out some of our photos from Rose City Comic Con last year:

But that’s not all! The witches of PDXpelliarmus will be running The Way Of the Wand, a short workshop for your little magical ones that helps them get moving and learn safe wand movements with our practice wands, so they don’t put an eye out (or lose a buttock!) when they finally go out in the magical world with their real wands. This mini workshop has been a hit every time we’ve done it and we can’t wait to bring it to you over the weekend. It’s totally free with your admission.

Read more about the Expo and purchase passes here.

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Tickets on Sale for 2024 Yule Ball – Don’t Miss Out!

Posted on October 5, 2024 | Leave a comment

The wizard activists of PDXpelliarmus are excited to invite you to the 2024 Yule Ball, on December 14th, 2024! The Yule Ball is an enchanted evening of well-mannered frivolity, celebrating our magical community, and doing some good in the world! Every year, Yule Ball gets more magical and we see a lot of familiar faces and love meeting new ones. We’d love to see you there. Tickets are on sale now, and you can purchase them here:

https://pdxhpa.betterworld.org/events/2024-yule-ball

Generally Magical tickets are $45. Champion’s Feast tickets are $105.

The Yule Ball is first and foremost, a dance! There will be music, themed cocktails, an expansive raffle, and a photo booth so you can capture the magic of the evening.

Wizarding attire or formalwear are strongly encouraged, and muggle street clothes may be subject to transfiguration. This event will be 21+, with NO underage wizards allowed.

Before the dance begins, we will be hosting the Champion’s Feast! Champion’s Feast tickets come with dinner, magical swag, and a seat at a table in the ballroom. Each table is named after a location in the Wizarding World so when you purchase your tables, your party can plan to sit together.

Got a whole Quidditch Team to bring? A limited number of whole tables are also available. Whole tables include eight Champion’s Feast tickets, as well as the option to name your table and decide where in the ballroom it will be located. Champion’s Feast Whole Tables are $850.

In the weeks leading up to the Ball, all guests will be challenged to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, a real-world competition designed to test your bravery, cunning, determination, and creativity. The winner of the Triwizard Tournament will receive a special award at the Ball!

This year, the Yule Ball is returning to the Mt. Hood Ballroom at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel. (An airport is a location where muggles gather to ride in large dragon-like flying machines, as they lack portkeys and broomsticks.) This venue features its own entrance, with bountiful and free parking, and lots of room for us to spread out in! Guests who like to dance into the wee hours will also be able to get discounted rooms at the hotel, so you won’t need to worry about apparition accidents or overcrowded Knight Buses. Returning to the same venue is also giving us the chance to really lean into transforming the space to make it as magical as possible. Expect some new wonders this year!

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2024 Wizarding Weekend

Posted on August 13, 2024 | Leave a comment

We got away from the muggle world for a weekend of magic at McMenamins Kennedy School! Hosting activities in the Great Hall, vendors in Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, and Hogsmeade, PDXpelliarmus celebrated our favorite wizard’s birthday with three days of wonder and fun!

The Great Hall apparated into Kennedy School’s gym, where folks could sit at their House tables to enjoy a cold butterbeer, take their Hogwarts school portrait, and begin a hunt for escaped magical creatures! PDXpelliarmus presented trivia on Friday and Saturday and costume contests Saturday and Sunday. Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, and Hogsmeade were open Friday evening through Sunday, giving folks the chance to shop for magical treasures made by local artists and craftspeople.

Check out the photo album here!

Wizarding Weekend was free and open to the public, only requiring a ticket if you want to enjoy one of the movies in the Kennedy School theater, but PDXpelliarmus raised funds and collect school supplies! This year’s donations went to Rose Haven, a day shelter and community center serving women, children, and gender non-conforming people experiencing trauma, loss of home, or other challenges.

We all understand how lucky Harry was to find himself with a vault full of galleons when it came time to go back to school, and to have a safe place away from the neglect and abuse he suffered with the Dursleys. While we can’t make his story true for everyone in a similar position, we can make the return to school better for some, and help a program that supports them!

We collected almost 30 backpacks full of school supplies, and raised $3000!

PDXpelliarmus is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to literacy, equality, and human rights. We stand with the Harry Potter fandom, and we believe there still good to be done in Harry’s name. We are committed to helping uplift and empower the transgender community as well as create safe spaces for all LGBTQIA+ people in the HP fandom.

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2023 Wizarding Weekend at Kennedy School!

Posted on August 6, 2023 | Leave a comment

We had another magical weekend at Kennedy School, getting away from the muggle world with movies, games, costumes, and so much butterbeer! PDXpelliarmus hosted book and movie trivia, costume contests for kids and adults and a Horcrux Hunt! Young guests helped us find wayward pixies! Artists, craftspeople, and makers filled our three vendor spaces with their own kinds of magic.

We did it all to raise funds and collect school supplies for Boys & Girls Aid, an Oregon nonprofit that serves children in foster care. Harry Potter fans proved again why they are the best people, bringing in loads of backpacks, socks, notebooks, pens, markers, and so many other items that will be going directly to children as they prepare to go back to school. Via cash donations and a raffle for a one-night stay at McMenamins Kennedy School, we raised $3,000 to donate to Boys & Girls Aid as well!

It was wonderful to connect with our magical community, and to see the joy that we can still find in the HP fandom while committing to creating open and inclusive spaces. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

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2022 Yule Ball

Posted on June 7, 2023 | Leave a comment

On Saturday, December 10th, PDXpelliarmus brought back the Yule Ball! Returning to our original venue, the historic Emerald Ballroom, the ball was an enchanted evening of well-mannered frivolity for a great cause! This year’s Yule Ball was a fundraiser for Q Center, Portland’s LGBTQ+ community center.

Guests enjoyed magically-themed food and drinks, dancing, and the chance to celebrate with their magical community! We saw performances by the PDX Dancing Witches. We hosted a raffle to raise more funds for Q Center, and awarded the 2022 Virtual Triwizard Championship!

With our guest’s support, PDXpelliarmus was able to raise $4000 to donate to Q Center! Thank you to everyone who joined us in making magic happen!

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2020 Yule Ball

Posted on April 12, 2021 | Leave a comment

The 2020 Yule Ball may have been virtual, but we devised a whole weekend of fun to share for a good cause! We had two nights of music, trivia, a Virtual TriWizard Tournament, a raffle, storytime, and all to benefit the TransActive Gender Project!

We weren’t able to sit down together for the Yule Ball feast, but the magical folks at Hungry Heart Bakery created a special selection of To Go Feast Boxes. It was a spread that would have made Molly Weasley proud!

We had not one night of music, but two! On Friday, DJ Switch kept us dancing, and on Sunday, we wrocked out to the best Wizard rock out there.

We also held a Virtual TriWizard tournament! Champions were faced with a list of at-home challenges of their determination, creativity, and wizarding skills. They crafted bowtruckles, performed the Durmstrang’s entrance into the Great Hall, and used their imaginations to create all new aspects of the Wizarding World!

The Yule Ball raffle was held entirely online, featuring items and crafts donated my local members.

Proceeds from ticket sales and the raffle totalled $2,950, which we in turn donated to TransActive Gender Project! TransActive provides services and support to gender-questioning and gender-expansive youth and their families in the PNW.

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and participated! We look forward to seeing you in person at the next event!

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Bake Sale for TransActive!

Posted on November 1, 2020 | Leave a comment

The weapon we have is love…and cookies! In February, PDXpelliarmus baked up some sweet and magical treats worthy of the Hogwarts Express trolley. Chocolate Frogs! Butterbeer cookies! Cauldron cakes! These goodies and many more were on sale at Books With Pictures on Saturday, February 15th and at The Nerd Out on Sunday, February 16th, with all proceeds going to benefit TransActive Gender Project.

In the evening of the 15th, we continued the magic with more tasty morsels to go with a very special reading of “Puffs” at Books With Pictures! Because we all know that time spent with a certain group of loyal and hardworking badgers just isn’t the same without a sweet treat!

All proceeds from the bake sale were donated to TransActive Gender Project, which provides services and support to transgender and gender-expansive youth and their families. Across two days, we were able to raise more than $600 for their organization!

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