Magic returned to Kent on Friday and Saturday as Wizardly Weekend made its annual appearance in the downtown area.

“We’ve been doing this event for about eight years now,” Main Street Kent’s executive director Heather Malarcik said. “It’s a really fun family-friendly event. It draws people to the town and brings people to visit the businesses that they’ve never been to.”

The event, organized by Main Street Kent, included a bar crawl, a costume contest and a variety of family-friendly activities; such as making your own Mandrake at Flourish Plant Market, storytime at the Kent Free Library and a nine-hole miniature golf event.

Along with the different events, the festival hosted the Vendor Village on Saturday, with over 40 booths selling hand-crafted Harry Potter themed art, plushies and a variety of merchandise. 

“I think it brings in a lot of people from all over,” Donovan Chartier, owner of Dragon Chest, said. “We’ve sold here once before and you see people from all over, we came all the way from Columbus.”

Local businesses from Kent also got involved with the festivities, such as Off The Wagon, who ran a booth called ‘Adopt a Fantastical Beast.’ At the booth, kids were able to pick a plushie of their choice, sign adoption papers and take them home in a little makeshift house.

“Off The Wagon is a little involved with everything here,” Jake Ball, the merchandising manager for the store, said. “We’re one of the sponsors, the owner of the company helps decorate downtown, the store is decorated too.”

The festivities ended with North Water Brewing’s Harry Potter trivia night and The Bell Tower Ball, where attendees were encouraged to wear dress robes and house colors.

“I grew up reading and watching Harry Potter,” Taylor Quinn, an attendee of the event, said. “I love that this event brings out the little kid in me and I can’t wait to come back next year!”

Destiny Torres is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].