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Last weekend, hundreds of fans from a large variety of fandoms (from Starwars, Startrek, Supernatural, Disney, Once Upon a Time, to Gilmore Girls and Parks and Recreation, and many more). This year, GeekyCon took place over the July 31st weekend. An important date in the Harry Potter Universe, particularly this year, with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

GeekyCon and over 800 of Harry Potters biggest fans gathered for Wizard Rock (Wrock) shows–performed by Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, Tonks and the Aurors, Lauren Fairweather, The Womping Willows, and many more!–Harry Potter Puppet Pals live performances, panel discussions, Fandom trivia quizzes and Jeopardy, Quidditch matches, live Pottercasts, costume contests and a fantastical Cursed Child Midnight Release Party!

(A perfectly dressed Hufflepuff, Jay from Raging Storm Cosplay, cosplayed Newt Scamander, almost embodying Eddie Redmayne’s chracter! He also won the Cursed Child Costume Contest)

When fans had downtime between activities, attendees were able to peruse the GeekyCon Market place. Booths and Booths of venders gathered to sell various Harry Potter products. GeekyCon attendees could purchase beautifully hand-carved wands (both unique, Harry Potter character wands, and place custom order wands) from Hungarian Wandshop, as well as tshirts, hand-crafted jewlery, Funko POP!s, and more.

One of the best selling products was Ilvermorny merchandise. Vendors created Ilvermorny crested tshirts, Ilvermorny house necklaces, and much more. All designs were beautifully rendered. Many of the GeekyCon staff sported Ilvermorny shirts throughout the weekend.

(GeekyCon staff gather for an Ilvermorny T-shirt group picture)

GeekyCon attendees had a chance to learn how to play muggle Quidditch, sign up and play in teams during the Cursed Child Midnight Release Party, and watch the annual GeekyCon Staff vs. HPA (Harry Potter Alliance) staff Quidditch match. This year, for the first time in a long time, GeekyCon Staff won the HPA Quidditch match! They beat HPA 140-60, though HPA successfully captured the snitch!

(The GeekyCon Staff take a Quidditch Team picture with the GeekyCon pep band after their win!)

The largest (and possibly best) Harry Potter experience at GeekyCon 2016, was the Cursed Child Midnight Release Party! Hundreds of fans gathered to dance the night away at the Esther Earl ball, that doubled as a raging Cursed Child party. Other activities included team games of Wizard’s Chess, as GeekyCon attendees played a live game of chess, individually taking on the role of a chess piece, and Quidditch. GeekyCon staffers also manned Sorting Hat, Harry Potter Face Painting, Goblet of Fire Cursed Child Predictions, and trivia/games booths for attendees to participate at.

(A GeekyCon Volunteer Cosplays as Professor McGonagall for the Sorting Hat booth!)

GeekyCon attendees also got a chance to parade their cosplay and Harry Potter costumes on stage, as they participated in a Cursed Child Costume Contest. Newt Scamander (pictured above) won the contest.

Then the books came.

GeekyCon staff managed to check out hundreds of people in less than 40 minutes so fans could get back to their hotel rooms as quickly as possible to read!

The next morning, groggy with no sleep but full of new Harry Potter canon from finishing Cursed Child, GeekyCon staff lead panel discussions about different aspects of the new book. The morning began with individual house meet ups between Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff GeekyCon attendees and Staff.

Fans then dispersed gathered into groups to participate in panel discussions covering new characters from Cursed Child, familiar Harry Potter characters grown up, Harry Potter Stagecraft, Potterverse-building, and live Pottercast sessions were held on the main stage to discuss “19 Years Later” (19 years in the Harry Potter fandom) and Cursed Child reactions.

(Hufflepuffs had the largest turn out at the morning House Meet Ups–that loyalty!)

Most importantly, GeekyCon staff and attendees enjoyed a fabulous weekend of love and acceptance. If you missed GeekyCon this year, have no fear! GeekyCon 2017 is in the works. Harry Potter fans still have a chance to buy tickets to LeakyCon 2016 in Los Angeles! Currently LeakyCon has posted a Call Out (here) for programming for the conference, saying:

More information on LeakyCon 2016 and how to volunteer coming soon!

LeakyCon recently posted an exciting – yet mysteriously vague – letter to Minerva McGonagall to their Facebook page. The letter came from Ana Rodriguez – Director of Magical Gatherings and Celebrations at the US Department of International Magical Cooperation all the way in New York City:

The letter hints at an exciting event being planned, and LeakyCon posted this letter with the caption “Magical things are happening…”:

“I personally reviewed your recent proposal and am happy to inform you on behalf of MACUSA and the Quahog Administration, that we are excited to work with Hogwarts and the British Ministry of Magic to make this exciting and historic event a reality.

I have already alerted my counterpart at the California DOIMC office as well as our embedded contact within the Consulate General in Los Angeles to begin coordinating the logistics. Representatives from Ilvermorny are also excited to help in whatever way possible.

…

We are thrilled to have a hand in making this celebration a truly international affair”

The exciting integration of new knowledge of North American magical institutions – thanks to Fantastic Beasts – and the incorporation of our beloved Professor McGonagall (maybe hinting at Cursed Child links?). Who knows! We’re glad to hear that Harry’s legacy is still going strong in the wizarding world!

LeakyCon is also now looking for programming proposals for presentations on magical subjects:

“We are looking for a select number of knowledgeable witches and wizards to present on their favorite magical topics at LeakyCon 2016. If you have a burning desire to share your ideas and research on the Harry Potter universe, this is the place to tell us about it so we can help you make it happen!”

What do you think it all means? Find out more and buy tickets at the LeakyCon website, here!

We know you have all been waiting with anticipation for the return of your favorite podcasters…and it’s time! There is a new Pottercast available on iTunes. Episode #257 talks about the upcoming fan convention unlike any other–GeekyCon.

Pottercast and Leaky will take part in hosting GeekyCon and its Harry Potter events, including the Cursed Child midnight release party!

Also wondering why PotterCast disappears for long periods of time? Have no fear, the Potter podcasters talk about their plans to get Pottercast back on track again!

Thanks to our amazing listeners for sticking with us!

(If the newest Podcast isn’t showing up in the Feed, refresh your iTunes several times. Go to “My Podcasts,” “Pottercast,” “Feed,” and refresh. For those of you who haven’t subscribed to PotterCast it may take a couple of days for the newest episode to appear on the iTunes page. Sorry for any inconvenience.)

GeekyCon 2016 has just announced that it is creating a large-scale, old-school, Harry Potter release party to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The book comes out on July 31, 2016, the last day of the convention, which means that it will be the site of one of the biggest midnight parties in the country.

And this party is just one of all the cool and amazing events and activities scheduled for the weekend long festivity that is GeekyCon. As GeekyCon was once a Harry Potter-only convention and is planned by the same crew that brought us LeakyCon, it is backed by and attended by some of the biggest Harry Potter fans on the planet. As many of the people who run GeekyCon are still the biggest Potterheads, and have attended more than their fair share of Harry Potter book parties from 2004-2007, they decided to recreate the Harry Potter Book Midnight Release Party experience!

The party will be hosted by classic Potter podcast MuggleCast and PotterCast, and many others with experience and knowledge of Pottermania. The fun will start at 7 PM with the convention’s traditional Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball. Starting at 10:00 PM, festivities will convert themselves into a huge Harry Potter and the Cursed Child midnight book release . In tried and true Harry Potter Book Midnight Release party fashion, there will be a set of games, activities, and events to take part of–including, but not limited to:

• Costume Contests
• Sorting
• Trivia and other games
• Wizard Chess
• Quidditch
• Wizard Rock performances
• Face painting and other crafts
• Video retrospectives
• Appearances from special guests
• Put your name in the Goblet of Fire! (Submit your predictions, and we’ll go through them together at Sunday’s programming!)
• Share in the Pensieve: Submit memories about Harry Potter and your experiences; we’ll be sharing them throughout the night.
• And a lot more!

At midnight, everyone will begin to receive their book copy of the Cursed Child script! You must reserve a copy, and purchase will happen on site. Full, detailed instructions will shortly follow this announcement.

Fans in the Florida area, and maybe those who want to apparate further, can choose to come to just the party (which includes the ball) for $20, to enjoy the night’s festivities. If you are a full registered GeekyCon attendee, you can join us for the whole weekend — during which there will be a lot of Harry Potter related festivities and programming. Sunday we’ll be discussing Cursed Child almost nonstop!

Are you pumped up yet? We are so excited!

For more information about GeekyCon, visit the GeekyCon website. For tickets to this absolutely fantastic geeky convention, please visit this link.

In preparation for the exciting LeakyCon 2016, LeakyCon is updating their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. These sites are currently veiled under an air of mystery, as they are being rebuilt from the ground up. With constructing a new theme, LeakyCon promises new and exciting details about the relaunch of LeakyCon in Los Angeles in 2016.

Next Tuesday, September 1, is the “start of term” and the day LeakyCon will unveil it’s new sites. Are you ready to go to Hogwarts?

Please watch the LeakyCon website, Twitter, Facebook page, and Tumblr for more exciting news coming soon! Sign up for newsletter updates on LeakyCon.com.

Well, after the glorious, gleeful exhaustion brought on by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, your intrepid intern still had a whole conference to attend.

For those of you who haven’t heard of LeakyCon, it originally started as a Harry Potter–themed fan conference in 2009, but has since morphed into an all-out geek-fest in which fan communities from all kinds of media platforms come together to celebrate the power of story and fandom. In fact, the conference has been renamed and will be known as GeekyCon from here on — opening up to the wide, wide world of geekdom!

It will not surprise any of you that I spent most of my time at the conference at the LeakyCon Lit panels. Organized by YA authors Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman, LeakyCon Lit brings together YA authors from all over to talk about writing, their books, and plenty of weird, awesome, totally unrelated things. This year’s speakers were Stephanie Perkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, Malinda Lo, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Holly Black, Gayle Forman, John Green, Varian Johnson, Kazu Kibuishi, Lauren Myracle, Rainbow Rowell, and Scott Westerfeld. With such a diverse group presenting, we got to hear about everything from designing love interests to killing off beloved characters, from graphic novels to world-building, from Stephanie Perkins’s morning jigsaw puzzle routine to Alaya Dawn Johnson’s near miss with quicksand.

The programming ranged widely between serious panels (such as “Diversity in YA” and the “War Against YA Lit”) to game shows (including Jeopardy and a variation on The Lying Game, an old British game show). Maureen Johnson interviewed John Green in a Between Two Ferns–eqsue style, providing a hilarious exposé of their friendship. Johnson also moderated the panel about killing off characters — which meant, unfortunately, that the audience didn’t get any new information about a certain beloved [spoiler] she killed off in [spoiler]. But we did have the opportunity to harangue some of the other authors, who discussed the tension between emotional attachment and resonance and deciding when a character’s death serves the story best.

The panel centered on diversity in YA was especially powerful. The panelists discussed YA literature’s erasure and misrepresentation of people with diverse gender identities and sexuality, people of color, and people with disabilities — as well as the kind of backlash faced by authors who create those characters. I found it provocative when the authors on the panel discussed a question they often get regarding their characters of color: “Why did you make that character a specific race if your story isn’t about racism…why bother?”  The discussion which followed emphasized the importance of recognizing the bountiful diversity of experience in the world and the role literature plays in representing that diversity to its readership.

While most of the programming at LeakyCon Lit this year was phenomenal, a couple of the panels were better in conception than they were in execution. One panel called “I Made You, You’re Perfect” focused on romance in YA and how to construct romantic relationships and compatible characters. The panel, however, was comprised entirely of straight women; this lack of diversity was particularly apparent during a mishandled question on asexuality. The “War on YA” panel was concerned with the way that YA as a genre has been either denigrated by the media as too sweet and too small (especially for adult readers) or lambasted as the source of all evil for young people. Rather than exploring this phenomenon and its impact in depth, however, the speakers on the panel mostly reiterated what many of us had seen them write on Twitter and their blogs in recent months.

Overall, however, LeakyCon Lit was a perfect mix of whimsy, banter, and critical discussion. The authors are all knowledgeable and engaging, and their comments and discussions were accessible and enjoyable. I’ve been attending this track for the past four years and I can say with certainty that there is plenty to enjoy for both teens and adults.

The rest of the LeakyCon is not devoid of book-related fun for kids and grown-ups, of course. The subjects of the panels range from investigations into Harry Potter canon and characters to sing-alongs and debates. Each night there’s a concert by bands who get their material from Harry Potter (or The West Wing, or Doctor Who, or a whole host of other awesome platforms and stories). Pemberly Digital, a production company which creates modern adaptions of well-loved classics, premiered the first two episodes of Frankenstein, M.D., which follows Victoria Frankenstein, a young doctor determined to prove herself in a male-dominated field. Pemberly Digital is the same group who created the Emmy award–winning adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Which you should watch right now. Don’t worry. I’ll wait!

Seriously though, they are really good – as is Emma Approved (adapted from Jane Austen’s Emma), which is currently airing on Pemberly’s YouTube channel.

By the time we woke up on Sunday morning, we were about ready to lounge the day away by the pool. But we were in Orlando, and there is no such thing as a trip to Orlando without a visit to the Magic Kingdom. We did have to put down all our new books and our new geeky swag…but books are always there when you get back!

The post Sometimes, reading the book just isn’t enough – LeakyCon Lit appeared first on The Horn Book.

Word through our (Leaky-only) grapevine has it that LeakyCon is set to make an announcement in about an hour. Keep an eye out! We're (ahem) told it has to do with an already announced programming event. (No, J.K. Rowling isn't coming to the conference.)

Guesses? Thoughts? Ideas? Leave 'em here! This post will be updated at noon.

Registration for LeakyCon 2012, our next Harry Potter conference taking place August 9-12, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois, is now open to all and can be completed right here!

As a special for this Cyber Monday, regular registration is $180 for today ONLY.  Act quick before registration goes to its full price of $200 on November 29th.  This rate lasts through February 1, 2012.  Rock Star registration is $400 and is your all access pass to everything LeakyCon and LeakyCon Lit.  Full track information, including LeakyCon Lit, can be found here.

Our latest conference will be a long weekend of Harry Potter and literary-based fun, panels, games, music, sports, podcasts and so much more!  Your favorite wizard rock, HP actors, Team StarKid, the Esther Earl Rockin' Charity Ball are all slated be there, so don't delay in getting your spot at the conference as registrations are sure to go quickly.

Registration is open to all aged 13 and older, but if you are aged 13, 14 or 15 by the time the conference begins, you will have to have a chaperone at the conference; if that chaperone (over 21) is not your legal guardian, you will need to download and have signed and notarized our permission form, and bring it with you to the conference for presentation with your chaperone.

New for this year, if you are aged 16 or 17 by the time of the conference, you just have to download the form and have it signed by a parent or legal guardian, and have it notarized so we know it's legit. Then you don't need to have a chaperone.

Please read ALL of our FAQs on this page and be sure to let your parent/guardian read too.  All forms will be available shortly.

Do not delay in getting your spot at LeakyCon 2012!  Stay close to this site and LeakyCon.com for all the latest.

See you there!

Happy 11/11/11!

Leaky is thrilled to announce that the next LeakyCon will take place August 9 - 12, 2012 in beautiful Chicago, IL!  Our latest Harry Potter fandom conference will be hitting the "Windy City" this coming August for a long weekend of Harry Potter and literary-based fun, panels, games, music, sports, podcasts and so much more!  Your favorite wizard rock, HP actors, Team StarKid, the Esther Earl Rockin' Charity Ball - all this and more will make for another unbelievable weekend.

Location details will be released very shortly, and registration opens soon, so do stick close to this site and LeakyCon.com to be sure you have the latest info. If you have registered in the past you will get an early shot at registration in the next few days - so watch your inbox!

LeakyCon 2012 marks our third conference venture; our first LeakyCon took place in Boston, Mass. in 2009, and our second in Universal Studios' Royal Pacific Hotel in Orlando, Florida this past July.

See you in Chicago!

LeakyCon 2009 has ended, and it was a spectacular time; for a clue about how things went down here, search LeakyCon on Twitter and YouTube; you'll find hundreds of posts from the events of the weekend. If you missed it, we have two special ways to share some of the magic that happened this weekend in Boston.

The first is the live album. We're extending the discount until the END OF DAY TODAY (... Read the rest of this post

Reminder! As robed people start to fill up the lobby of the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, we have been told by many of you how sad you are that you couldn't be there. Never fear: we are professionally recording and producing a live wizard rock album and you only have a few more days to get it at a discount so GO HERE to get it.

Who will be on this album, you ask?

Harry and the Potters
Draco and the M... Read the rest of this post

Reminder! We are professionally recording and producing a live wizard rock album at this week, the sales of which will also benefit Book Aid and the HP Alliance.

And pre-orders are open NOW, and will only be available at a discount for five more days.



To be clear, this is a never-been-done, one-of-a-kind, two-disc live album featuring the best moments from our huge three-show wizard ro... Read the rest of this post

Just a few days from LeakyCon 2009, and we have a couple of reminders:

First, we have noticed a number of you have not connected your reservation at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers with the conference; the only way to get our block room rate is to do this. Make your reservation here or call the hotel at 617-426-2000 and let them know your reservation is for LeakyCon.

Second, we will announce... Read the rest of this post

We told you we weren't done! We're yet again thrilled to make a big LeakyCon announcement: Potter Puppet Pals, the geniuses behind The Mysterious Ticking Noise and other YouTube sensations, have been added to the Friday Night wizard rock show at LeakyCon 2009 (which again, is free with registration as is an unbelievable host of other even...

LeakyCon is coming and we are not yet done with announcements and surprises: We're thrilled to announce a PotterCast first today: Wizard rock band Ministry of Magic is set to appear on and perform at the LeakyCon 09 PotterCast (which is Saturday morning the 22nd and free with a conference registration). The band will be performing acoustically as well as sitting down for an interview, and we ca

In two weeks, the first ever HP screenwriter-fan chat will be taking place at LeakyCon 2009 in Boston, MA. Today, we're asking you to take part, even if you can't go to the conference.

We're taking your questions ahead of time: leave a question for Michael Goldenberg, scriptwriter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, here in this thread, and we'll pick out the best ones to be asked duri... Read the rest of this post

We are less than TWO WEEKS from LeakyCon 2009, and things are getting even more exciting. We'll have another big announcement for you soon. In the meantime, here's the schedule of events, so those of you registered can start getting your schedules in order:

Thursday
Friday Morning
Friday Afternoon and Evening
Saturday Morning
Saturday Afternoon and Evening
Sunday

We'll be highlighting much... Read the rest of this post

The 193rd episode of PotterCast, our Harry Potter podcast, is now online for your audible enjoyment.  This week, Sue starts off the show with a round up of the latest HP news including: Cherrybomb being screened as part of the Cannes Film Festival, Emma Watson on DH filming, new Half-Blood Prince photos, aging the Trio for the Epilogue scene, and the big LeakyCon Keynote announcement involvin... Read the rest of this post

LeakyCon 2009 is around the corner, so here is a sneak preview of that special one-of-a-kind collection of Harry Potter books, donated by Scholastic and signed by J.K. Rowling, that one lucky LeakyCon registrant will win. Here are some pics (you can see them all in our galleries (they are heavily watermarked for security):

 






The books, as you can see, came with security/au... Read the rest of this post

The third keynote for LeakyCon 2009 (registration here) completes our program in every way: The first keynote we announced (Nosh with Nerdfighters) is all about Harry Potter and community; the second (Q&A with Michael Goldenberg) shines a spotlight on the Harry Potter films and their chief challenge, adaptation; our third is a literary panel that's sure to excite every last booklover (which is ... Read the rest of this post

Only 27 days until LeakyCon 2009 (registration is here), and today we have the first of many highlights!

Today's feature is Frak's Fun Sized Art Factory! At this special one-of-a-kind workshop, Leaky's main illustrator, professional art teacher and PotterCast co-host Frak will offer easy-to-follow steps and guide you through the process of bringing your vision of the characters to the page! At... Read the rest of this post

Only 29 days left until LeakyCon 2009, and today we have another huge announcement:

J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter, and Scholastic, the publisher of the Harry Potter books in the US, have donated a signed 10-book set of American Edition Harry Potter books for fundriaising at LeakyCon. This set is the only one like it in the world. It includes all seven Potter novels as well as Fantastic ... Read the rest of this post

Today marks 30 days until LeakyCon, our first ever Harry Potter conference taking place May 21-24 in Boston, MA. To celebrate we will have a highlight or an announcement for you every day until then: to kick it off, today we're thrilled to announce another of our keynotes!

The Saturday afternoon keynote will feature screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, who wrote the 2007 adaptation of Harry Potter... Read the rest of this post

With LeakyCon 2009, our first ever Harry Potter convention, just around the corner, we are proud to announce our full schedule of programming. With a variety of events, from informal session to serious academic discussions to Wizard Rock concerts and more, Leaky Con has a jammed packed list of events planned for our convention which is taking place next month May 21-24th at the Boston Park Plaz... Read the rest of this post