Queen City Mischief & Magic volunteers never stop working to coordinate and make each year a better festival.
Sam Staebell Bosserman of Augusta County is a Wilson Memorial High School graduate. She began volunteering with QCMM in its second year in 2017.
When Sarah Lynch started QCMM in 2016, 500 participants were expected, but 5,000 came to Staunton.
“It grew overnight,” Bosserman said.
In 2017, QCMM began coordinating with Staunton Police Department to have downtown streets closed for festival participants.
“That makes it a little more like the festival we have today,” Bosserman said of QCMM’s evolution.
Bosserman said that volunteers take notes during the festival on how to improve on next year’s festival. They take a break in January, then resume meetings to plan for the next festival.
And now 2024’s festival is fast approaching for Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29.
According to Bosserman, the festival reached a peak in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated virtual tours in 2020 and 2021.
“We did a lot of things to really keep the magic as distracting as possible from what was going on,” Bosserman said.
Last year’s festival experienced bad weather on Saturday which kept many “Harry Potter” fans away, especially anyone local or driving within a few hours who did not book a hotel room. However, Sunday bounced back.
Bosserman predicts 2024’s festival could be record-setting for Staunton.
“We have a few surprises that will be scattered around the festival,” Bosserman said of what’s new in 2024.
While volunteers prefer to leave the surprises for participants that weekend, Bosserman did mention an additional train available Saturday night.
Quidditch matches will be held this year, but participants may arrive 45 minutes prior to each match instead of scheduling ahead.
QCMM volunteers have received feedback that participants wanted more adult-oriented activities.
“We challenged our participants [businesses and nonprofits] to come up with more [adult activities],” Bosserman said. For example, the Waynesboro Symphany Orchestra will perform, ghost tours will be available and two murder-mystery events held.
For the sixth year, “Magical Superstitions Tours” will return at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum for $12 per adult, $10 per child. Children 5 years old and younger are free, but all participants are asked to register online. Admission includes a tour of the historic 1846 Manse, uncovering of new Magical Victorian Superstitions, tales from the wizarding world and learning how to read magical fortunes in tea. Tours will run 30 to 35 minutes each and are family-friendly.
Bosserman became involved in QCMM because she was a fan of the “Harry Potter” books and films since college. She attended QCMM in 2016 and immediately wanted to be more involved.
“Ever since then, I’ve just kind of inserted myself into the event and been part of it since,” she said.
She is one of five main organizers. Bosserman’s main objective every year is to coordinate volunteers and get schedule information online for participants. All five organizers remain involved in making decisions about the event.
Volunteers decided on a theme of dragons for 2024 coinciding with the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese New Year. Each year a creature is chosen to represent the festival.
Bosserman said she loves to see adults who were children when the “Harry Potter” books were first published now bringing their children to
QCMM.
“You’ll see a lot of multi-generational fans come to the festival.”
QCMM is an opportunity for ordinary individuals to escape the real world and enter a magical world where everyone has something in common: their love for the “Harry Potter” books and films.
“I think my favorite part of the festival is it gives people the opportunity to come to Staunton and forget the rest of the world,” Bosserman said.
She added that volunteers and participants refer to the Monday after QCMM as “Muggle Monday,” a day when most of them return to work and “the real world” and are exhausted after a fun weekend in downtown Staunton.
Bosserman said she enjoys every year taking a moment to enjoy being on the Wharf during Quidditch and being on West Beverley Street with the other volunteers, the fans and tourists. Thousands of hours of work and collaboration goes into each year’s festival, and, at that moment, Bosserman said, “to see the joy that it brings to the attendees and that’s what makes it all worth it.”
Queen City Mischief & Magic will be held in downtown Staunton on Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29, 2024.
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Rebecca Barnabi
