A celebration in downtown Staunton that began as a birthday party for “Harry Potter” will celebrate its 10th anniversary on September 27 and 28.
“We have changed very much from the beginning one-day event to a fall weekend,” said Queen City Mischief & Magic Founder Sarah Lynch to Staunton City Council at its regular meeting on August 14. “Thanks to the city’s involvement, we have expanded and headed off many problems. Every year, we think we’ve got it figured out, and every year there’s something that we need to mitigate.”
The problem to mitigate for 2025 is the fact that parking is now limited at the Wharf Lot, which calls for changes to QCMM plans.
Lynch said that shuttles from Statler Boulevard, where many visitors from out of town are asked to park, will be rerouted to come and go from Sunspots.
“We’re going to have a little bit less activity down there, just to kind of play things safe,” Lynch, who owns and operates Baja Bean in downtown Staunton, said.
But, businesses at the Wharf will still participate in the annual celebration.
In 2016, approximately 10,000 celebrated QCMM downtown, and, according to Lynch, last year’s celebration attracted nearly 40,000.
“Businesses now have to report to us the impact on their business so that we can comply with that grant and they have reported as much as a 60 percent increase,” Lynch said.
She said that business owners have told her that they were about to close their doors but QCMM brought in a profit that allowed them to stay open through Christmas.
Even if the weekend did not bring in revenue for the city and its businesses, Lynch said the event allows families to afford a free event because of “the way that our visitors seize our town.” One mother of three children told Lynch that QCMM allows her to afford her children having their faces painted.
A group of 12 social media influencers are traveling from the Midwest this year and QCMM staff plan to participate in videos with them to share on platforms which the influencers have 200,000 or more followers.
The weekend brings visitors who call Staunton a home away from home, who became Mary Baldwin University students or who chose to move to Staunton.
“Thank you for believing in the magic, believing in magic and supporting this event,” Lynch said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
