That’s magic! Town turns into Hogwarts
MILLIONS of children have dreamed of receiving an acceptance letter from the magical Hogwarts school.
But today a West Lothian town will bring the world of Harry Potter to its streets as part of the largest children’s festival of its kind in Europe.
The boy wizard is the main theme of this year’s Bo’ness Children’s Fair Festival, which dates back to the 19th century.
Elaborate temporary structures – known as ‘arches’ – have been erected in the town. These include a Hogwarts bigger than a house, a Quidditch pitch, Ollivanders Wand Shop and the Hog’s Head Inn.
The centrepiece, constructed for this year’s festival Queen, 12-year-old Zoe Carlin, is Hagrid’s house, complete with smoking chimney and screaming mandrakes in the garden.
It was built by the youngster’s friends and family using wood and recycled objects. The realistic roof, for example, is painted linoleum.
Children reach it via a 150ft pathway lined end to end with hundreds of colourful spells and potions.
Hagrid himself sits outside his workshop alongside his dog Fang – looking over to a cart full of barrels of butterbeer.
Queen Zoe, who was elected by fellow pupils at the town’s St Mary’s RC Primary School, said: ‘It’s amazing – I’m so excited.’ Her father, machine operator Paul, 43, said: ‘To be chosen as Queen is the ultimate honour in Bo’ness.
‘The arches take months to build. We raised over £2,000 and it’s been a phenomenal effort from everyone involved in building it – you couldn’t tackle that kind of thing yourself. ’
The boys’ ‘Champion’ this year is Jayden Johnston, 11, whose home has been transformed into Ollivanders Wand Shop and the Hog’s Head Inn, at a cost of around £3,500 raised by the family through a variety of events.
His father, Ross, 42, said: ‘We started building it ten weeks ago. It’s 32ft high. None of us are joiners but it looks pretty good.’