GGB Pittsburgh’s Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

To the boy who lived!  A brunch in the making since November 2015.  If there’s any fandom that deserves that much time and dedication to planning a brunch, it’s Harry Potter.

In July the Pittsburgh branch of Geek Girl Brunch hosted one of the most requested brunch themes to date in our city — a birthday party for Harry Potter!  With all the new things being released this year in the Potter universe, this was the perfect time for all of us to celebrate the boy who lived!  The Pittsburgh ladies did not let us down, as this was our biggest brunch to date!  We had quite a few returning brunchettes, but lots of first time brunchettes too!  It was wonderful to meet new women in the city as we gathered to celebrate our favorite boy wizard!

And what a celebration it was! We gathered in Schenley Park in the heart of Oakland for a barbecue as magical as they come.   Each house had their own table decorated in house colors that would make Dombledore himself proud.  While the burgers cooked we had board games and coloring pages to keep us entertained, as well as Cursed Child rumors to confirm.  Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both had huge numbers, but Slytherin surprised us with a very decent representation too!  Who knew those Snakes could be so nice??

Each girl was asked to bring a dish or drink to share with everyone, and our ladies did not let us down.  There was a homemade love potion, pumpkin juice, and butterbeer being served up over at the Leaky Cauldron.  In the Great Hall we had everything from fresh garden veggies to pasta salad, taco dip, butterbeer cupcakes, and some amazing Pumpkin Pastries.  Honestly, the Hogwarts House elves themselves could not have come up with as much food as we did!  It was an amazing spread to go with the burgers and dogs grilling up!

After the feast, we played a few games to give each house the chance earn points for the House Cup.  First up, an amazing Yorkshire Slang Quiz that Geek Girl Brunch Leeds sent over to us. We laughed trying to figure out what the phrases actually meant, especially when bonus points were awarded for creativity.  To a few of us it sounded like a lot of what we were reading was something Jar Jar Binks might mutter to himself!

Ravenclaw took an early lead after the Yorkshire Quiz, but with 3 events to go it was anyone’s Cup to win!  Next up, we played an old-fashioned picnic game that was a wonderful relief on a hot July day – the water balloon toss.  Some of our ladies had quite an arm on them! By the end of the event the Gryffindors managed to safely toss their balloon more than 20 feet without it breaking.  10 points for Gryffindor!

Our third event was a few rounds of Harry Potter trivia, with the action getting quite heated.  When points are up for grabs, as well as bragging rights for the best Harry Potter fans out there, each point was crucial.  Ravenclaw won the first round and Hufflepuff came up big in the double-or-nothing lightening round to keep the race interesting.  Slytherin, who seemed to always land the impossible questions, won for most creative answers out there!

With the race razor tight, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor were all fighting for the top spot as we headed into the final event: a modified Bocci ball tournament.  The stakes were high, and at the 11th hour Slytherin came through with a wonderful win!  With all the events completed, it was time to total up the scores and see how each team placed.

After a count, the final total was razor thin, but the Ravenclaw ladies edged out the Hufflepuff team by 3 points to claim victory in the house cup.  To the victors go the spoils, as Ravenclaw was allowed to pick out a prize from our prize table first!  And what amazing prizes we had for everyone!  Honeyduke candies, Funko Pop figurines, and genuine Cursed Child swag from the London theater!  Everyone walked away with an awesome take home gift as well as a feather quill for them to complete their Potions homework with!

We had such a fabulous time at our Harry Potter brunch, and we might continue to make this an annual event in Pittsburgh.  Thank you so much to the ladies who braved the heat to spend the day with us.  And a huge thank you to all of the first time ladies who joined us for the day.  We hope to see you all again soon!  Also, a huge thank you to the random jogger who helped us take a group photo in the middle of his work out!  We owe you, sir!

If you missed our July Harry Potter celebration, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon with some more Harry Potter love.  In August we conclude our British Invasion Summer with a James Bond themed brunch at River’s Casino.  We cannot wait to see everyone for the conclusion of this great summer! Stay cool, Pittsburgh!