page_title: Harry Potter fandom
section_title: Conventions
hierarchical_section_title: Harry Potter fandom / Conventions
caption_attribution_description: Attendees of Sectus conference await the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for which they have pre-reserved copies.
context_page_description: Harry Potter fandom refers to the community of fans of the Harry Potter books and movies who participate in entertainment activities that revolve around the series, such as reading and writing fan fiction, creating and soliciting fan art, engaging in role-playing games, socializing on Harry Potter-based forums, and more. The fandom interacts online as well as offline through activities such as fan conventions, participating in cosplay, tours of iconic landmarks relevant to the books and production of the films, and parties held for the midnight release of each book and film.
  By the fourth Harry Potter book, the legions of fans had grown so large that considerable security measures were taken to ensure that no book was purchased before the official release date. Harry Potter is considered one of the few four-quadrant, multi-generation spanning franchises that exist today, despite Rowling's original marketing of the books to tweens and teens.
context_section_description: Fan conventions have been another way that the fandom has congregated. Conventions such as Prophecy, LeakyCon, Infinitus, Azkatraz, and Ascendio have maintained an academic emphasis, hosting professional keynote speakers as well as keeping the atmosphere playful and friendly. They have featured prominent members of the fandom such as Jennie Levine, owner of SugarQuill.net (Phoenix Rising, 2007); Melissa Anelli, current webmaster of The Leaky Cauldron (Phoenix Rising, 2007; Leakycon, 2009/2011/2012); Sue Upton, former Senior Editor of the Leaky Cauldron (Prophecy, 2007); Heidi Tandy, founder of Fiction Alley (Prophecy, 2007), Paul and Joe DeGeorge of the wizard rock band Harry and the Potters (along with several other more well-known Wizard Rock bands such as The Remus Lupins, The Parselmouths, Ministry of Magic, and The Whomping Willows) (see below) (Prophecy, 2007; Leakycon, 2009/2011/2012), Andrew Slack, founder of The Harry Potter Alliance, and StarKid, the cast of the fan made musicals "A Very Potter Musical", "A Very Potter Sequel", and "A Very Potter Senior Year".
  Still, the conventions try to attract the fandom with other fun-filled Potter-centric activities, often more interactive, such as wizarding chess, water Quidditch, a showing of the Harry Potter films, or local cultural immersions. Live podcasts are often recorded during these events, and live Wizard Rock shows have become a fairly large part of recent conventions. Members of the Harry Potter cast have been brought in for the conferences; actors such as Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Christopher Rankin (Percy Weasley), along with several others, have appeared to give live Q&A sessions and keynote presentations about the series.
  In addition to fandom-specific programming, LeakyCon 2011 and 2012 have hosted LitDays (as well as incorporating the many fandoms Harry Potter fans have branched into since the ending of the series). LitDays are full of programming with authors, agents, and editors. A few key examples are John Green, author of the award-winning young adult novels The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska; Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies series and Leviathan; and David Levithan, author of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and The Lover's Dictionary.
  These conventions are now incorporating the recently opened theme park The Wizarding World of Harry Potter into their itinerary, built inside Universal's Island of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. At the Harry Potter fan conventions Infinitus 2010, LeakyCon 2011, and Ascendio 2012, special events were held at the theme park dedicated to the series. These are after-hours events for convention attendees who purchased tickets to experience and explore the park by themselves. The event included talks given by creators of the park, free food and butterbeer, and live wizard rock shows inside the park.
caption: Attendees of Sectus convention in London await the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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