Harry Potter fest to take over Ontario town

The town of Goderich, of Ontario province, country of Canada, was proud to say that it was perfectly normal, thank you very much. It was the last town you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because it just didn't hold with such nonsense.

But then again... appearances can be deceiving.

For the second year running, this tiny Ontario town on the shores of Lake Huron is doing something quite magical. It's about to become the wizarding world of your dreams.

Welcome to the story of Harry Potter and the Transfigured Town. It's no fiction, either. It's the real deal!

Leaving the Muggle life behind

Most of the year, Goderich is best known as home to the largest salt mine in the world. (Getty Embed)

Truth be told, Goderich was actually known for something fairly extraordinary before all of this. It has the largest underground salt mine in the world.

But this October 13 to 15, Goderich is going to be transformed into a Diagon Alley of magical locales and events. It is a festival for everything Potter. There will be Quidditch tournaments (for "pros" and amateurs), a house challenge (are you Gryffindor or Slytherin?), a Poly-wizard tournament (naturally), scavenger hunts, bands, and lots more. What a terrific idea!

This is actually the second year that Goderich has held this event. Last year, however, it was just a single day. It was such a success, they decided to make it a full long weekend of enchanting fun. All of the money raised is going to help improve the nearly 200 year-old town.

Has the chance already vanished?

"It's already sold out? You mean we got dressed up for nothing?!" (Getty Embed)

Of course, now we get to the sad news. The tickets have already sold out! Last year's event sold out about a month beforehand. But now, nine months away, the tickets for the 2017 version are all gone.

Even the organizers are shocked by this. On the event's Facebook page, they wrote: “If we can find a way to include everyone we will, but we can't make promises we can't keep or turn it into the Transfigured line-up festival. But please believe me when I say that we are very interested in making more room and enough fun for more people.”

So unless you've got some Floo Powder or a flying car handy (or already bought tickets!), then you've probably got a better chance of catching a snitch on foot than going to this transfigured town. But the good news? If this event is such a success, who would bet against it happening next year, too?

How is your October 2018 looking? Ours is officially wide open!