On Oct. 26, Books & Brews hosted the Diagon Alley Fall Festival, a place for Harry Potter lovers to join and express their love for the franchise. The event included vendors, animals and everyone's favorite wizarding drink: Butterbeer!
Wizards and witches from the Indy area came to showcase some of the goods that they make. One group, Misfit Magicians, was there to sell handmade crafts and goods.
Misfit Magicians is a Harry Potter based group that sells handcrafted wands and other goods from the fandom, with the promise to have a safe space to celebrate their love of magic.
Beth Alexoff, a member of the group, crafts wands to sell at events like this.
“I pick names for them as they feel to me, something that resonates with me,” Alexoff said.
Another group active at the event was Wizard of Paws Wildlife Education Inc., a nonprofit operating in the Indy area who adopt and rescue animals that either come from individuals who can’t care for the animals anymore or legally can't have the animal in their state or county. Wizard of Paws brought along some animal friends to the event, including a European polecat and a Fennec fox.
Tyler Wieczorek, vice president of the organization said, “he [the European polecat] is a distant ancestor of the ferret.”
The polecat, named Wyoming, was also referred to as a “really long boy” by Wieczorek.
The venue, Books&Brews, situated on the south side of Indianapolis, is a fusion of a bar and a bookstore. Their motto “a place for people without a place” fits well with the atmosphere, having books surrounding the tables, craft drinks named after books, and a numerous amount of board games to play with strangers.
Keith Fechtman, owner of Books & Brews said, “I enjoy it so much that it doesn't even feel like work! I can't believe I get paid to have fun! I went to UIndy and it was my dream to own a restaurant one day!”
Books & Brews offers both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, as well as including a personalized menu. The store offers plenty of seating for board games and reading, and offers specialized nights including trivia on Wednesday.
The entire photo coverage of the event can be found here.
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