Harry Potter Symposium
From Salem Links and Lore
- The Harry Potter Symposium was held as a five-day conference from Oct. 6th through Oct. 10th, 2005 in Salem.
- Salem was host to a symposium celebrating the Harry Potter phenomenon, called "The Witching Hour, a Harry Potter Symposium".
- Festivities included a Halloween Ball, an all-day Quidditch Tournament on the common, as well as discussion panels. Panelists were from M.I.T. and New York University. This was the second symposium hosted by HP Education Fanon Inc., a nonprofit Harry Potter fan group based in Texas. The group's first meeting, Nimbus 2003, drew about 600 to Walt Disney World in 2003.
- Salem was chosen as the second meeting place because it is the only American city mentioned in the series.
- More Symposiums were held since then: Portus, July 10 – 13, 2008 was held in Dallas, Texas, and Level Two, July 23 to 26, 2009 in San Jose, California.
See Also
Vertical File in Salem Collection - Harry Potter Conference
"Checking out the convention" Salem News, Oct. 8, 2005.
"Harry Potter fans show Quidditch techniques" Salem News, Oct. 10, 2005, p A 1
"When Harry met Salem; more than 1,000 Potter readers swoop into city for Symposium" Boston Globe,Oct. 6, 2005, p. N 03
