Wizardfest Brings Together Potterheads from All Around Minneapolis

Fine Line gives muggles a chance to attend Hogwarts for one night BY JOSIE TAKESHIMA-ALLEN Wizardfest Brings Together Potterheads from All Around Minneapolis

Like many other Minneapolis potterheads, I simply couldn’t pass up the chance to go to Wizardfest, a pop-up event claiming to transform First Avenue’s Fine Line into Hogwarts for a night. Upon entering the venue, I saw cardboard cutouts of characters, dementors, and wands for sale. The iconic Harry Potter opening sequence music was blasting from a DJ booth, and people were getting ready for the trivia quiz. This was my first taste of the commitment some people attending that night had to Harry Potter, and I was not disappointed.

There were two main events held during the night: a costume contest and a trivia contest. A couple dressed as Professor McGonagall and her husband won the costume contest, with “Drunk Dumbledore,” “Harry Potter in His Pajamas,” and “Professor Sprout and a (human) Mandrake” also making strong appearances. As for trivia, a couple dressed as wizards won after answering every question correctly, including the bonus: what spell does Luna Lovegood use to fix Harry’s broken nose? The answer: episkey. It was a tough enough question to stump most of the crowd who had come out on this Thursday night.

Age-wise, the group ranged from other college-age students to people old enough to be my grandparents. There were people like me who had made no effort to dress up, and others who went all-out, like the couple wearing elaborate Mcgonagall outfits. Upon inquiring as to where they got their costumes, I found out the woman ran her own cosplay costume shop. She told me she had made over fifteen movie replica costumes for herself since she attended her first convention in 1974. Attendees’ love of the books and movie renditions was obvious all night and made it much easier to mingle because everyone had a common topic to talk about. And if you missed Wizardfest this year, you can look forward to the event coming back to the Fine Line next year!

Amateur Night: Gophers Sharing Their Talents and Themselves

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Student Unions and Activities offers a space for students to express what matters most to them BY IAN KNOLL

My secret talent is I can burp on command. Needless to say, it doesn’t get me far at parties. For some real talents, however, look no further than Amateur Night, a yearly event put on by Student Unions and Activities that gives Gophers a chance to share their unique talents and perspectives.

Acts ranged from the expected (but still impressive) instrument and singing performances, to the surprising, like spoken word poetry and Adrian Velez’s beyond impressive yoyo routine. Throughout the night, the audience was encouraged to think carefully about the acts they’d seen and ultimately vote on a favorite, with the third, second, and first place winners all being announced at the end of the night. This year, the winner was a group of four roommates who had gotten together to form an indie pop-rock style band called Warwick (who, in my humble opinion, were more than worthy to get the vote).

The night wasn’t without its serious moments though. Before his performance, Maje Adams (who did a highly entertaining metal cover of Redbone) asked the audience to hum with him in honor of the victims of the recent Santa Clarita school shooting because, as Maje put it best, we do not stay silent when these tragedies occur. In another excellent performance, student poet Simran Chugani used prose laden with riddles to express the confusion and uncertain history she feels comes with being an Asian American.

Ultimately, I think Amateur Night has a lot of room to grow. Though they were all excellent, the event only featured eleven groups, and though everyone there seemed to enjoy themselves, the Memorial Union’s Great Hall was far from full. As a student body and a world, sharing our talents, ourselves, and what makes us excited is vital to growing as a community. Everyone has a unique talent and perspective to share, and while Amateur night is a relatively safe place to share that, I highly encourage everyone to come next year and join the conversation.