Tag: travels

Wrock Night number two started off a little more chill, I wasn’t too fussed about getting to the front as I was the first night so chilled with some of our new friends in the Great Hall. After a quick pizza we ended up back at the venue just as Lauren Fairweather and The Whomping Willows finished their set with ‘When The Lights Go Out‘. The crowd were still chanting ‘We’re wizards, we’ll party forever…’ just as the founding fathers of the Wrock movement, Harry & the Potters, bounded on stage and blew the roof right off the Grand Connaught with fandom famous songs like Save Ginny Weasley, I Am A Wizard and Dumbledore. The last of which ended in the crowd with their arms around each other in a huge circle singing out the last chorus! #awesome They even managed to coax Hank Green out for another rendition of Accio Deathly Hallows, before a final sing-a-long to Luna Luna (sans Evanna sadly, she fell asleep in her hotel room by accident apparently!)

– Harry Potter actors panel l-r Benedict Clarke (young Snape), Ellie Darcy-Alden (young Lily Potter), Ryan Turner (Hugo Weasley), Scarlet Byrne (Pansy Parkinson) and Chris Rankin (Percy Weasley) – autographs from Rohan Gotobed (young Sirius Black) – Robbie Jarvis (James Potter) – Ryan – Ellie – Benedict – Chris – Scarlet – AND EVANNA LYNCH! – 

Day 3 also started with queuing – LineCon 2013! woop! – and a special trivia quiz with the guest Harry Potter actors. But it also came with the lovely surprise of getting into the signing with actors from the Harry Potter films! Where, yes, I did meet Evanna Lynch, had a rather amusing conversation with Benedict Clarke about Peter Capaldi and blushed far too much in front of Robbie Jarvis.

Saturday night of LeakyCon also only meant one thing…the Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball, which was a whole night full of dancing, conga lines and really bad singing. For me this was the highlight of the whole Convention, with the entire room belting our the unofficial LeakyCon anthem Total Eclipse of the Heart to end the ball.
Sunday hangovers and another final queue for the Leaving Feast Breakfast ended my experience at the Convention. Saying goodbye to everyone was so hard and I felt like I was literally being dragged away from the Grand Connaught.

I left LeakyCon with so many memories and so many friends, that I’m sure I’ll be first in line to buy a ticket to the next Convention in Orlando, Florida next year! For anyone dubious about attending anything like this, whether it be something smaller like LeakyCon or a huge convention like ComicCon, I’d definitely recommend it. They’re opportunities of a lifetime!

In case you’ve not been keeping up with goings on here are Wishing For Chanel, you would’ve noticed I was absent last week and had some guest bloggers taking the reigns (thanks to Erin, Laura, Anjali and Becky btw!)

The reason? I was away in London town for LeakyCon! 

What is LeakyCon I hear you cry? Well it’s a four day Harry Potter Convention, celebration of popular culture and general geek out. Originally set up as a Harry Potter Convention – and in many ways it still is very much grounded in Harry Potter and the values it promotes – LeakyCon has expanded out to cover all aspects of fan culture, including Doctor Who, Nerdfighters, The Hunger Games and so much more. 

In the past it’s been held only in the US, but this year, author, journalist and LeakyNews webmistress Melissa Anelli decided to take the conference back to Harry’s homeland in a celebration they coined ‘The 15 Year Reunion’ (as it’s been 15 years since the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts), and held the Con at the majestic Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

After arriving at our hotel, me and my best friend made the journey up to Watford Junction – where we made friends with a couple of attendees on the way! The atmosphere this time round was completely different than the last time I went to the tour. The room buzzed with excitement with this being the first time I had been in a room with so many Harry Potter fans at one time. 

We also had a special guest ushering in us in…the lovely Scarlet Byrne who plays Pansy Parkinson in the films! The tour felt even better the second time round, I spotted more and was actually able to see the sets up close without other tourists getting in the way! Plus there was the added perk of free Butterbeer and souvenir mug – the mug was nice…the Butterbeer was a little questionable but hey that’s my taste I guess. After a pretty awesome trip round we headed back home for some R&R before launching ourselves into Leaky properly.

Day 1 started off slower with something that would become incredibly present at LeakyCon…queuing! The registration queue stretched around the whole of the Grand Connaught and lasted over two hours! But once we were in we got our swag bags and headed off for the first Meet Ups of the day. Queues started building again after that for the Welcoming Ceremony of the Convention, which was being held in what ended up being nicknamed the Great Hall. Chandeliered and full of beautiful classical motifs it was quite a sight to behold. The opening itself was just as awesome, with Melissa introducing the convention and appearances from Evannah Lynch, Scarlet Byrne, Alfie Enoch, Robbie Jarvis, Wizard Rockers, Hank Green and Team Starkid. 

With Get Back To Hogwarts buzzing around in our heads I barely had time to think before gearing up for my first Wizard Rock concert…yep you read that right! As a Potter fan I was definitely aware of Wrock, but had only listened to a few songs. I needed have worried, the bands there were amazing and so entertaining! As well as the Wrock bands, YouTuber Alex Carpenter and Hank Green himself also performed. Just like coming back from any gig I went back to bed with ears ringing, gearing up for Day 2!