Chestnut Hill Witches & Wizards Festival: What To Know

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA — After a copyright crack down by Warner Brothers, organizers of the Harry Potter festival in Chestnut Hill had to rebrand to keep the immensely popular festival going. And this year, the trend continues as Chestnut Hill's Witches and Wizards Festival will enter its second year on Oct. 19.

The festival will bring all things magical to Chestnut Hill with various events scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19. For those 21 and up, the fun begins Friday, Oct. 18 with the Brews and Broomsticks Pub Crawl.

While overall the festival is free, it includes both free and paid events and activities.

Attendees will enjoy hands-on craft activities, live entertainment, themed shops, and more throughout the Chestnut Hill community on Oct. 19.

New additions this year are the Dark Magic Scavenger Hunt, the Wizarding Run, and the Wizard’s Warehouse. See more details on these new features below.

And, rest assured, this year's event see the return of both the Annual Brotherly Love Cup Quidditch Tournament and Woodmere Art Museum’s Straw Maze.

See the full list of activities and events below:

• Brews and Broomsticks Pub Crawl — Friday, Oct. 18 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Discover the mischief and ghosts of wizards past on the Brews & Broomsticks Pub Crawl in Philadelphia’s historic Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Dress up in your favorite Halloween costume and creep into seven participating pubs and restaurants for exclusive specials on themed beverages and bites. Pub crawl wristbands include one complimentary alcoholic beverage, an official Witches & Wizards souvenir cup and t-shirt, and a Pub Crawl activity ticket redeemable for designated experiences listed below. See below for bar locations and additional details on entertainment, activities, and specials at local businesses. The crawl costs $25 per person, with Pay-As-You-Go Food & Drink Specials exclusively discounted for ticket-holders. Get tickets here. Once the participating bars reach capacity, only ticket holders will be permitted to enter. Participating pubs and specials are:
    • Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, 8400 Germantown Ave.
      • Featured Beers: Hallowed Helles, Sorcerer’s Stout, All Day Rose, Pumpkin Can, Pumpkin 4 Pack, Oktoberfest Can, Oktoberfest 4 Pack, Hipster IPA Can, Hipster IPA 4 Pack, Philly Special Can, Philly Special 4 Pack, Lunchbox Hero Can, Lunchbox Hero 4 Pack, POG Champ
      • Outdoor Food Specials: Butterscotch Popcorn, Chicken Tenders, Slithering Sausage Sandwich, Smoked Turkey Leg
      • Indoor Food Specials: Harry’s Beef Pot Pie, Dragon Fire Wings, Wicked Goat Cheese Salad, Smoked Turkey Leg
    • McNally’s Tavern, 8634 Germantown Ave.
      • Featured Drink: Transfusion (keepsake glass mug included)
      • Featured Food Special: Hot Dogs ($1 for ticketholders, $3 for the general public)
    • Chestnut Grill & Sidewalk Café, 8229 Germantown Ave.
      • Featured Drink: The Black Cat ($7 for ticketholders, $10 for the general public)
      • Featured Food Special: Asian Organic Salmon Skewers and Loaded Fries (exclusively available to ticketholders)
      • All ticketholders receive $1.00 off draft beers
    • Chestnut Hill Brewing Company, 8221 Germantown Ave.
      • $5 pints of featured beers (pricing exclusive to ticketholders):
        • Mighty Pumpkin: 6.4 percent ABV, brewed with 25 lb. of neck pumpkins roasted with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
        • CH Festbier: 6.2 percent ABV, traditional marzen, malty lager, made with hersbucker and saaz hops
        • Exploding Hops, 5.6 percent ABV, pale ale dry-hopped with mosaic and citra
    • El Poquito, 8201 Germantown Ave.
      • Featured Drinks: $5 Yards Loyal Lager Pints, $5 Autumn Sangria, $6 House Margaritas
      • Featured Menu Specials: To be announced
    • The Venetian Social Club, 8030 Germantown Ave.
      • Featured Drinks: Pumpkin Ale and Lager Beer ($1 off for ticketholders only), Witches Brew (whiskey-based), Potion Shots (Jello-shots)
      • Featured Food: Free Popcorn for ticketholders
    • The Foodery, 7829 Germantown Ave.
• Wizarding Run — Saturday, Oct. 19 at 9 a.m., 8000 St. Martins Lane
  • The Wizarding Run is coming to Chestnut Hill. Grab your wand, hop on your broom, and join fellow witches and wizards on a magical 1 mile or 5K journey through Chestnut Hill with wizardly sights and sounds along the way. Every registrant receives a one of kind event shirt in four color options, a custom wand, a commemorative bib, and a free butterscotch soda. Participants of the 5K will also receive an amazing owl finisher medal at the finish line. Register here.
• 10th Annual Philadelphia Brotherly Love Cup Quidditch Tournament — Saturday, Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chestnut Hill College.
  • The 10th Annual Philadelphia Brotherly Love Cup Quidditch Tournament returns with teams from visiting colleges and the local community team competing in round-robin style Quidditch matches. Visit the Chestnut Hill College website here for additional details and a list of participating teams. The tournament is free to attend.
• 8th Annual Harry Potter Academic Conference — A non-profit annual academic conference hosted by Chestnut Hill College, this interdisciplinary conference provides a forum for scholarly presentations arising out of J.K. Rowling’s literature. The conference is open to the public, with a registration donation required. See the website here for more information.
• The Wizard’s Warehouse — A one-stop pop-up shop for all of a witch or wizard’s needs, at 8532 Germantown Ave. Featuring magical maps, goblets, cloaks, and more at special discounted prices.
• The Jenks Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry will feature bouncies, a DJ, arts and crafts stations, games, food trucks, a bake sale, wizard chess, face painting, and cotton candy.
• Chestnut Hill Escape Room will test your fear level with a haunted adventure at Chestnut Hill Escape Room, visit The Haunting of Chestnut Hill, the spine-cHILLing mystery room). If you’re a fan of scary movies or TV shows, This is the adventure for you. Just the right mix of fun and fear in a ghostly adventure you won’t soon forget. Get your tickets online here.
• Woodmere Straw Maze — Built from massive straw bales, this year’s maze is fun for all ages. Designed by architects Peter Everett Brown and Barbara Ann Sprague of BrownSprague LLC. Sponsored by Michelle McFarland. Ages 4 to 11 with adult. $8 per child, $6 for members; $20, for $18 members, for families of three or more; multiple weekend passes available. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Entrance to the Museum is free to parents and guardians whose children have tickets to the Straw Maze.
• Hocus Pocus Headquarters — Market at the Fareway Parking Lot- 8221 Germantown Ave.
  • Fun for the entire family, Chestnut Hill’s annual Witches & Wizards is a pre-Halloween celebration full of spooky and magical autumn festivities. Hocus Pocus Headquarters sold out in 2018, so reserve your child’s magical wristband now to take part in the kids’ crafting activities at Hocus Pocus. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $12 day of. Get tickets here. Magical Wristbands entitle you to activities including:
    • Bat Pumpkin Crafting
    • Spooky Spider Making
    • Ping-Pong Pumpkin
    • Insectarium
    • Monster Dig
    • Complimentary popcorn
    • Witches Brew in Souvenir Goblet available for $2

Other highlights for the festival include:

• Costumed Actors on the Avenue — An annual tradition from festivals past, our troupe of professional actors fans out across Germantown Avenue in spooky and magical attire, offering free scares and photo ops for participants.
• Professional Caricaturists — Take home a keepsake sketch from one of our two professional caricaturists.
• Secret Circus Aerialists — An annual tradition returning again in 2019, our circus aerialists put on an impressive street show featuring aerial feats, trapeze, and dance.
• Slow Motion Booth — Act out scary and magical fantasies with your friends in slow motion at this unique video booth by SlowMo2Go. Additional props and costume accessories are available on-site.
• Fire-Breather — Spinning torches and blowing fire are some of the daring feats demonstrated by our stunt performer, a fan favorite in 2018.
• Face Painter — Kids can impersonate their favorite spooky or magical character with the help of our two professional face painters.
• Philly Ghostbusters — Complete with their unmistakable car and costumes, the Philly Ghostbusters are returning to the 2019 festival to rid Chestnut Hill of supernatural visitors.
• CH DanceFit Performance — Don’t miss the talented dancers of Chestnut Hill DanceFit
• The Insectarium — If creepy and crawly is a must for your Halloween fun, don’t miss this station by The Philadelphia Insectarium, the city’s only bug-centric science museum.
• Dark Magic Scavenger Hunt —There’s sinister stirrings in Chestnut Hill at the Wizards and Witches Weekend. A series of dark and cursed items have made their way into the shops and stores, and your help is needed to locate them all before the evil awakening spell is activated. Grab your wand, broomstick, and your friends, and prepare to race through the streets, follow the clues, and find all of the items before it’s too late. There is no limit to the number of participants who can work together, but each individual must purchase their own ticket. Tickets, which are available here, get you:
  • Game admission
  • Magical map of the area
  • “Magic Words Daily” Newspaper containing clues to the locations
  • A magic spell sheet with information about the dark objects you’re searching for
  • Prizes for successful completion of the game.
• Sorcerer’s Spotlight Stage with MC D.J. Jamie Grimble

Spooky Shopkeeper Specials for the festival are:

• Market At The Fareway — Special Witches & Wizards edition of Trivia, 8221 Germantown Ave., 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• El Quetzal — Glitter Tattoos
• Bohemian Pink — Pink Potions, Cotton Candy and refreshments
• Chestnut Grill & Sidewalk Cafe — Food and drink specials
• Wm. A. Kilian Hardware Co.
• Serendipity
• Bjorn & Co.