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What is the NYC Wizard Rock Festival?
The NYCWRF is an incredible event for fans of the Harry Potter series of books and films, and for lovers of independent music. New York will host the return of the NYC Wizard Rock Festival, featuring bands from the Wizard Rock community. Families, sci-fi/fantasy fans, and music enthusiasts from all over the world will converge upon New York to “wrock” out to a great line-up of amazing bands. This festival will be an all ages, daylong wizard rock extravaganza!
When and where is it going to be held?
The NYC Wizard Rock Festival will be held at the renowned Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday, November 21. The Music Hall is part of the Bowery Presents group of clubs that have hosted many highly respected indie bands. Our venue for the NYCWRF 2010 is next door to Public Assembly - where the 2008 NYCWRF was hosted - with twice the capacity!
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For more information on tickets, visit our Tickets page here.
What exactly is Wizard Rock?
Wizard Rock, or Wrock, is a burgeoning independent music movement fostered by the Harry Potter fan
community. The artists write music inspired by events, characters, and even objects from the Harry
Potter series of books and films. Lyrics are often written from the point of view of the character or
object from which the band gets its name. For example, Draco and the Malfoys - one example of a wizard rock band - sings from the point of view of Harry Potter's arch-nemesis. Sometimes the artist anthropomorphizes an
inanimate object, such as The Whomping Willows, who performs as the human embodiment of a magical tree.
Occasionally, bands will create their own characterizations, such as Swish and Flick, who developed a
character that exists in the Harry Potter universe in name only (Astoria Greengrass). The artists
generally distribute their music and publicize themselves via Facebook, Twitter, Myspace.com and other Internet social networking sites. For more information about
the Wizard Rock philosophy and the history of Wizard Rock, visit the Wizrocklopedia here.
Who are you guys?
The NYC Wizard Rock Festival 2010 is coordinated by a dedicated committee of hardcore Harry Potter fans. We
are not a corporation, or a panel of literary scholars. We are a group of friends who share a love for
Wizard Rock. The idea sprang forth soon after the release of Deathly Hallows, in the mind of the
head coordinator, Stacy Pisani. She soon rallied together people from The Group That Shall Not Be Named, the largest Harry Potter
club on Meetup.com. Because the first festival in 2008 was such a success for the wizard rock community, and because the committee thoroughly enjoyed themselves, we are repeating the festival again this year in November.
This is a grassroots effort funded by the committee members themselves who seek not only to throw a huge
party, but also to wrock the pants of NYC. They come from all walks of life and are all very nice people,
so please don't hesitate to greet them when you see them at the Festival.
Committee Members:
- Stacy "Swish" Pisani: Head Coordinator
- Deanna "Celestial Warmbottom" Benfante
- Olivia Garcia
- Thom Kulesa
- Jenna Lawrence
- Liz Lewis
- Jackie Medina
- Jessica Mercado
- Staci Ortiz
- Jonathon Rosenthal
- Debbie Schneider
- Ana Gondring
Consultants:
- Paul Liaw: Artist, Paul designed the "Lady Liberty With Phoenix Patronus" artwork for the Festival.
Layout © Liz Lewis
Liberty Image © Paul Liaw
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