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The second annual Yule Ball was another magical night!  We threw off our muggle lives for an evening to feast and dance and bring more magic into the world.  Scroll to the bottom of this post to find beautiful photos of the evening!

Every ticket we sold this year, either to get in the door or for a raffle prize, is helping us support a worthy nonprofit, Immigration Counseling Service with a donation of $4000!  Their work with the Pacific Northwest’s immigrant and refugee community has never been more needed, and PDXpelliarmus was very happy to aid in their mission to #StoptheSnatchers.

The Yule Ball raffle was a big part of our donation, and it wouldn’t not have been as possible except for donations from several local businesses and artists.

Alice Carrier Tattoos

Candy Tyme

Elaborate Flights of Fancy

Metropolitan Performing Arts

Morrigan’s Mantel

The Nerd Out

Rose City Glass and Gems

Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumes

Things From Another World

Time Traveler’s Costume Guild

The work that goes into the Yule Ball every year is worth it, but we must take a second to thank this year’s extremely hardworking volunteers, Robin Coon, Katie Anderson, Tara Adams, Nadia Peer, Gwen Amsbury, Chris Robinson, Heather Agidus, Marisa Borrevik, and Genny Davis!  We also have to give a round of applause to Serah Pope, who designed and ran the lighting for us.  The Emerald Ballroom has never looked more magical, and that’s due to hard work from everyone involved.

If you’re excited for 2019 already, there’s a FB event here follow our progress!

You can find many, many more photos here.

The first annual 2017 Yule Ball was held on December 9^th, 2017, a night that will long live on for those of us who planned, prepared, and attended it.  Words like magical and enchanted don’t even come close to describing it.  When we first conceived of the idea in the spring, we weren’t sure we could pull it off, or that we’d find enough people who wanted to come.  Fast forward a few months, and the IndieGoGo campaign broke through its goal in the first 24 hours, and the entire Ball was sold out by September.

Everyone showed up in their wizarding best, from formal wear, to wizard robes, to costumes that spanned the gap from creative to slightly terrifying. Candles floated.  We ate and drank and drank some more.  (The bars were warned, but still ran out of butterbeer…twice.)  Cupcakes were devoured.  DJ Switch kept us dancing, and we rocked out with Kirby Krackle.  We gave away an array of raffle prize packages to please almost every kind of fan, from haircuts to the TriWizard Trophy.  (Not a portkey, I’m relieved to report.)

And we did it all for a good cause. After the final budgeting was done, the PDX HPA was able to donate $3000 to EACH of our charity partners, Chick!Tech and Girls Build.  (Our donation to Girls Build will be going toward scholarships for eight girls!)  We also made contact with the wider Harry Potter fan community in Portland and gain lots of new members to help us when we start planning the 2018 Yule Ball!

Thank you to everyone who helped along the way, be it in the planning, boosting the signal, volunteering on the night of, or even just attending. You all helped make the first Yule Ball possible, and spectacular.

A special thanks goes out to Hungry Heart Bakery for providing the delicious mini-cupcakes, and to Sweet Anthem, McMenamin’s, Sport Clips, and Relax PDX for donating to the raffle prizes!