|
Dearest Wizards and Muggles, If you had told us this time last year that we wouldn’t be having Wizard Way 2020 due to a global pandemic and that almost a year later in 2021 the pandemic would still be ongoing, cases still on the rise, with hundreds of thousands lives lost to it, it would have been unimaginable to us. The past year has been trying everyone; we have seen COVID-19 ravage families, communities, and of course industries near and dear to our hearts - front line workers, the service industry, and those in the live event industry (conventions, concerts, and live theatre) just to name a few. Naturally, we have been getting a lot of questions about if we are carrying on with our event this March. We’ve waited as long as we could to see if Wizard Way of the Ozarks could continue safely, but it is clear to us that our event cannot continue on as planned in March 2021. There are many reasons - COVID cases are higher than when we rescheduled in July 2020, strict regulations and policies have been put in place by the Arkansas Dept of Health as of January 1st 2021, more infectious virus variants are being discovered, and vaccinations not as widespread as we hoped at this point. Due to all of that, even if we could continue many parts of our event (such as escape rooms, the dance party, and game room) would have to be taken out altogether to abide by ADH rules. Furthermore, many of our entertainers, vendors, and volunteers have stated that they, in good faith, cannot participate until the vaccine is more widely available and they are able to receive it.  We have decided to postpone Wizard Way of the Ozarks until March 19th and 20th 2022. Outright cancelling isn’t an option for us - not only would it ensure we wouldn’t be able to do this event again in the future, it would admit defeat and deny the happiness that we and so many others get from being able to come together to share our fandom passions with one another. After much discussion, we feel this is the right choice for us to make, no matter how much it pains us. By the time that March 2022 rolls around it is our hope that most of the previously stated concerns will no longer apply and we can continue our event as we have in the past. We ask that you permit us the same grace given from Dumbledore to the Golden Trio when they tried time after time to do the right thing while facing difficult decisions. The Head Wizards and Prefects of our little convention are so thankful for your patience and understanding thus far and hope you continue to realize we have everyone’s best interests at heart. What about your tickets? We hope you will keep your tickets purchased in 2020 and 2021 and hang onto them with us. Our new dates are March 19th and 20th 2022. Your tickets will continue to be valid & honored when it is safe for us to carry on the convention. If that won’t work for you, please email us and we will help take care of you. Lastly, we want something good to come from this while we are waiting for it to be safe. We’ve already gone a year without having the ability to sow positivity into our community in some way. That is why we have created a t-shirt to go towards benefitting food security in NWA. Using whatever we are able to raise, the Head Wizards and Prefects will fill as many Little Free Pantries in NWA with as much shelf stable food as we can. We hope you can participate, but if you can’t contribute we hope that you can utilize these resources for yourselves or your friends when we distribute the food. Check out the bonfire fundraiser here. We will be back to proudly wearing our house colors, practicing spells, meeting new friends, and raising our wands before you know it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. “What’s coming will come, and we’ll meet it when it does.” - Hagrid Your friends in magic, Staci, Summer, Katy, and Roland Head Wizards on behalf of Wizard Way of the Ozarks 
1 Comment
 Dear Wizard Friends,
The last few months have been a floo-network-level-whirlwind - from initially postponing our event that was only one week away because we had to quarantine and lock down to rescheduling that date for a 2nd time because things weren’t getting better. We have been on our toes this entire time! As we have carefully been monitoring the status of the spread of the pandemic through our state, we had our hopes up back in the middle of May that by our last rescheduled date, cases would be in decline and we would be able to meet in merriment united by our love of our little wizarding community. We were willing to take precautions and be overly safe - requiring masks, getting rid of activities like the escape room and dueling wands, greatly limiting ticket sales, and others. However, in the past couple weeks we have been watching the cases rise every day. Today, as we write this, Arkansas just set the record for the single highest amount of new cases in the last 24 hours - that’s higher than Seattle’s peak of that same measure. As of right now, we feel that it would be morally irresponsible and careless for us to continue our event and put so many people at risk of contracting the virus. Therefore, we will be postponing our event until Spring of 2021. We are working to nail down dates ASAP and will have those for you by early next week at the latest. All of those that have purchased tickets prior to today will once again automatically be carried over and honored for our 2021 date. We will have incentives for those of you that have already purchased your tickets (including an exclusive t-shirt for everyone and entry to our Saturday Night Wizard Party. VIPs don’t worry, we’ll throw in something extra for you too). Please email us if this option will not work for you. Our hearts ache that we can't do it this year, but they especially ache for our entertainers and vendors missing out on income from the event, so we will continue to spotlight them. What Dumbledore said in the 4th book keeps running through our heads; “There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” We believe this is the right choice and we would rather have a fun, big, full event later on than a watered down version right now. Thank you for sticking with us through this. We wish nothing but good things for you, your family, and friends. As always, any questions or comments can be emailed to us at wizardwayozarks@gmail.com Stay Safe & Wands up! Your friends in magic, Staci, Summer, Roland, and Katy www.wizardwayoftheozarks.com On March 11th, the State of Arkansas was declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency due to the Coronavirus pandemic. At that time we decided to abide by the advice of the state and city and reschedule our event for May.
We have been monitoring the situation as closely as possible since then. Last week, the State of Arkansas decided to keep students from returning to physical school buildings the rest of the year. It is estimated that peak amounts of cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas will be at the end of this month. The federal government is advising the public to stay at home as much as possible and not gather in groups larger than 10 until at least the end of April. Due to the seriousness of this virus, it is very probable that this advice to ‘stay at home’ will be extended until June. When we consider all of the things that we’ve listed, we feel that continuing to have our event in mid-May would not be a good decision if we want to hold the health and safety of all our wizard friends, family and the community in the highest regard. That said, Wizard Way of the Ozarks 2020 will be postponed one more time and rescheduled once again and will now be held the weekend of August 1st and 2nd. We deeply apologize for having to move it again, but we feel that it is the most responsible decision we can make, given the circumstances. All tickets that have already been purchased are being transferred to these new dates once again. Your ticket type and day will remain the same and we will update our schedule of events if any further changes are made. If there is a conflict with these new dates, please email us so that we can assist you. The light at the end of this tunnel is that July 31st 2020 is a certain boy who lived’s 40th birthday, so our festival and wizard dance party will be a themed around his 40th HAPPEE BIRTHDAE Weekend! You know we’ll have cake, butterscotch beer, and frogs of chocolate ready for you. Thank you for hanging in there with us - we know it will be worth it. Your friends in magic, Staci, Roland, Summer, Katy & the rest of the Wizard Way of the Ozark Prefects www.wizardwayoftheozarks.com Yesterday, Mayor Jordan declared a State of Emergency for the City of Fayetteville. We have been in communication with the City and they have asked for the cancellation of all large public and private gatherings until at least March 30th. The health and safety of our wizard friends, family and the community is our top priority and, after consulting the Town Center, we have decided to reschedule.
Our small group of prefects, just some regular folks with day jobs, have been working diligently for months to host this magical event. Countless hours have gone into making props, advertising, programming, logistics, and so much more… so we are definitely crestfallen but remain hopeful that our event will be even better once this public health emergency is over. Wizard Way of the Ozarks 2020 will now be held the weekend of May 16th and 17th. We are truly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. All tickets are being transferred to these new dates. Your ticket type and day will remain the same and we will update our schedule of events if any changes are made. If there is a conflict with these new dates, please email us so that we can assist you. For anyone that wanted to come and does not have tickets, you can still purchase those at http://bit.ly/wizardway2020 Thank you for your patience and understanding during this chaos as we were so looking forward to this light of happiness in dark times. We assure you that what is to come will still be ‘bloody brilliant’! We will see you in May. Chins and Wands up! Your friends in magic, Staci, Roland, Summer, Katy & the rest of the Wizard Way of the Ozark Prefects www.wizardwayoftheozarks.com Greetings Wizards and Witches! (CURRENT Update 3/13/20 - We are working with the Town Center as well as the City of Fayetteville to find a solution on the status of our event. We will update everyone as we know more.) (Update 3/12/20 - Click here to go to the Arkansas Department of Health Website to see the most recent updates on presumed and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas.) In light of recent events, we would like to address concerns surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19). While attending the convention, we ask that everyone use good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze and washing your hands often with soap and water. Hand sanitizers will also be made available throughout the convention for your convenience when handwashing is not immediately available. Additionally, you can avoid handshakes by exchanging greetings with a curtsy and a bow or coming up with a secret no-contact hand shake. If you have any medical complications that would make you more vulnerable to illness, please consult with your medical provider before deciding whether or not to attend. We also ask that guests who are showing signs of illness consult with their health care provider before attending the convention. We would love to have you, but your safety and that of others is our top priority. For additional information concerning COVID-19 you can visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov . We will continue to monitor the situation and give updates if there are any changes. Signed in utmost sincerity, Head Prefects on behalf of Wizard Way of the Ozarks   Greeting wizards and mugborns!
Our Headstudents have been busy planning for Wizard Way 2019 and we are so excited to let you know that tickets will go on sale for our upcoming event on January 20th at 2:30pm here! Making magic for the good of our community is one of our greatest joys and without you it wouldn't be possible! We've expanded to two days this year to accommodate demand - March 23rd and 24th 2019. Wizard Way 2019 will benefit Arkansas Support Network ‘s summer transition program for youth with developmental disabilities . Each day we will have the same vendors and most of the same entertainment available. Any differences will be outlined on our ticketing page. General admission tickets will be $16 per person ages 5 and up. Kids under 4 get in for free. Our activities and entertainment will be spread between the Fayetteville Town Center and the Chancellor Hotel this year. Outside of that, another addition is a separately ticketed Pub Crawl of Wizardry happening on Saturday Night Only on Dickson Street starting at Infusion - you will be able to purchase tickets to the pub crawl online ONLY at the same time as the con. The pub crawl ticket will include a brilliant t-shirt that you will receive at the end so you can proudly proclaim your astuteness at potions of a more alcoholic inclination! As always, we're so excited about the opportunity to bring people with similar interests together - last year was a testament that many friendships were forged with fellow nerds that are worthy of any golden trios’ unbreakable bond! If you have any questions, please direct them to wizardwayozarks@gmail.com. Wands up! www.wizardwayoftheozarks.com There is plenty to do in Eureka Springs when you take a break from exploring the Crescent College of Magical Matriculation. This town has one of the most famous magical shop thoroughfares in North America (comparable to those in London) - to non magical folk it’s simply known as “Main Street” but to those in the arcane arts it’s known as “Wizard Way” (which may sound familiar) — if you stand there and look a bit deeper, open yourself up to the mischief and magic around you, you may notice the strange light in the alley ways... you may enter a shop and get a knowing nod from a wizened shopkeeper... meander beyond the curtains in a dusty old shop of curiosities.. you might be lucky enough to glimpse at the items of enchantment ordinarily hidden away from mugborns. The buildings are grand and old, their own magic undeniably emanates from the stones, wood, and iron used to build them. Join us at our winter ball but don’t forget to experience all the magic this little Ozarkian community has to offer!   Attention Wizards of the Ozarks (students and professors - pure, mugborn, or in between!) - the prestigious Crescent College of Magical Matriculation invites you to gather your finest dress robes, your best hat, and of course your wand to join us in a night of enchanting entertainment, a delectable feast, wizard rock, dancing, and more all in a town filled with curious shops and places. Professors and students from around the world are welcome to attend our winters ball for a ray of merriment in the cold weather. Come inside to ward off the frost by the fireplace, hang up your cloak, and get ready to have a magical time. ((We will be spending our evening partaking in these festivities at the bewitching and historic Crescent Hotel (We have it on good authority that famous wizards have studied here!) in beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas only 45 minutes from Fayetteville.)) There will be several different ticket options available that we will have details on as far as pricing and packages very soon. As an example, you might choose to only to attend the event itself, or you might want to also reserve one of the VIMF (Very Important Magic Folk) packages that includes at a discounted price to stay one or two nights in the dormatories (rooms) at this historic & beautiful place! The Crescent is graciously working with us to try to provide several opportunities to make a weekend of it - more details to come on all of that soon. You will have plenty of time to plan and decide :) We regretfully must inform our underage friends that this event is only intended for Wizards and Witches above the age of 21. Formal / Magical dress is required - whatever you perceive that to be. Responsible spell casting will be allowed. This event is being orchestrated by Wizard Way of the Ozarks and in the spirit of what we stand for it will be partially benefiting The Merlin Foundation as well as helping provide funding our next event so that we can make it bigger and better! Sign up to receive more information as it becomes available via the Ozark Magic Post here: http://www.wizardwayoftheozarks.com/ozark-magic-post.html  The Crescent College of Magical Metriculation takes the higher education of our witches and wizards VERY seriously. Headmistress Eldrina Quillberry and the professors at our school feel as if the balance of the future depends (in large part) on their careful instruction... but they DO like to let loose every once in a while. What better opportunity than the yearly winter ball? However, this year... it's a little more special. For the first time we will be opening the doors to outside and international students of the arcane arts, in a quest to build a stronger wizarding community, in our region especially... in the beautiful Ozarks... We feel we can gain much from each other and trade knowledge and perhaps friendships. While the lore of the college is shrouded in mystery to mugborns, it's secrets will be revealed in short to all witchards open to discovering them as the time for this unique event draws closer.
 Let us dust off our robes and flourish our wands for a fresh beginning. :)
We had such a grand time at our event in March and we would LOVE to continue to bring wizard-y magic to NW Arkansas! Just days ago, it was brought to our attention that Warner Brothers feels our naming of the event as well as a few other aspects were a little TOO close to their intellectual property for their comfort, regardless of it being something that we do not profit from but rather try to enrich our community through choosing a good cause to donate to. It is of no consequence however -- We have decided to take this opportunity to make something all our own that we can celebrate together while paying homage to the stories we love so much and develop relationships with each other in our community. DiaCON's spirit will continue as 'WIZARD WAY OF THE OZARKS'. We do hope that you will continue to keep the magic going with us despite this change, and we can all move forward to make it bigger and better than before while continuing to do the most good in our community as we know good wizards and witches would. Most Sincerely, Wizard Way of the Ozarks Head Elves  Photo Credit: Ms Lilithina Creations It's with great happiness that we write that DiaCON Alley of the Ozarks 2018 was a resounding SUCCESS! We are so pleased with how things turned out and most importantly we are hearing from YOU how much you enjoyed it, which makes us all feel warm and fuzzy inside. There are definitely things that we could improve upon but as a whole we are so happy we were able to provide a fun experience and a place to make friends that will last a life time! Also I feel like it's worth mentioning that HUFFLEPUFF won the 2018 DiaCON House Cup (woo!)
We have one set of photos our photographers took and we're hoping to get the other set very soon from our other photographer so we can put galleries up for you to peruse. Also, we will be making our nonprofit donations to the NWA Children's Shelter and Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas in the coming week, we will document that on facebook as well! We already have ideas bubbling in our cauldrons for fun things to come so if you'd like to stay updated on that, please subscribe to the Ozark Owl Post in the top right hand corner! We also are collecting applications for a variety of reasons (volunteers, merchants, entertainment, & panel ideas) for future events so you can join our little House Elf family too! We're holding our wands up, ready for the next adventure!! Love, The DiaCON Alley Head House Elves |
RSS Feed
|
Events organized by Wizard Way of the Ozarks ARE NOT unofficial or official Harry Potter events, are not affiliated with Harry Potter, and are not endorsed, sanctioned or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Harry Potter book publishers and/or J.K.Rowling and her representatives and/or Universal Orlando. HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR.
|
Wizard Way of the Ozarks & Original Material
© COPYRIGHT 2021 Magical Offerings LLC |