Magical Markets
Wizarding day’s Magical Markets are full of magical makes, appealing activities, curious crafts and wizardly wonders.
Visit the Memorial Hall by the Memorial Gardens food area to have your face painted or browse and buy from a range of quite magical stalls selling a range of supplies for the discerning witch or wizard..
We look forward to seeing you there.
Venue: Memorial Hall and Gardens, St John’s Street
Times: 10am-4pm
Booking: not required
Meet Snakes, Dragons and Lizards
Meet some fantastic reptilian beasts! This activity is provided by Gary's Reptiles. You can hold snakes and lizards for a donation. The Royal Oak will be open from 12pm for cobs and a range of drinks.
Venue: The Barn, Royal Oak Pub, North End, Wirksworth
Times: 10am-4pm
Booking: Drop-in, donations to handle beasts.
Price: Free (donation to hold an animal)
Magical Plants and Enchanted Trees
From mandrake roots, to the girls who turned into trees, from flowers of starlight to leaves of poison or wonder…Join our resident storyteller Gordon MacLellan from Creeping Toad for a walk in the Gardens of Magic and the Woods of Sorcery. Add your own leaf of magical ideas to our Tree of Spells…or take a leaf of dreams home with you….
Venue: Coach House Studios, Under the Arch off West End
Times: 10am, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm
Booking: Both online and some spaces on the door.
Price: £3
Routemaster Bus Rides
Ride the Magical Routemaster Bus, the inspiration and model for the Knight Bus in the Prisoner of Azkaban. The bus will be driving through town all day. Hop on board at the Market Place and Memorial Hall bus stops. Stan the wizardly conductor or one of the wizarding school professors will collect your fare. Donations of £1 for as many rides as you like and all proceeds go to our official good causes - Foundation Derbyshire and Wirksworth Pre-school.
Cost: £1 for the day
Venue: From Haarlem Mill to Ravenstor Road car parks
Booking: Included in parking fee or just hop on board throughout the day
Times: 9:30am-5pm
The Wizarding Express, Owlery, Wild Roots Crafts and Fairground
Travel to the Wirksworth Wizarding Day in style with our Wizarding Express trains! Set in 1950s carriages, some of them with compartments, we have steam and diesel hauled trains running from Duffield to Wirksworth and back.
At Wirksworth Station, we have Woodie's Wings owl rescue where you can get up close and meet real live owls. We also have our friends at Wild Roots Creative running Charm making workshops and Herbology potion making classes at various times during the day. There is also a fairgound at the station for young witches and wizards to enjoy.
Ford Anglia
We have a Ford Anglia flying in for the day. This is the model as used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Find it pretending to be an ordinary muggle car in the centre of town.
Venue: The remains of the ancient witch house (cruck beam)
Cost: free
Times: 10am - 4pm
Lego Create and Keep at the Magical Makers’ Cavern
Join us for a spooky themed Create and Keep session! Create and keep an enchanting Lego mini model.
When: 10am-4pm
Where: The Maltings, St Mary’s Gate
Cost: varies from £3 to £10 per person, depending on the activity
Wizardly Windows
Businesses and houses in the town centre are invited to join in our Wizardly Windows competition, where prizes courtesy of Le Mistral and The Wirksworth Pottery Company are up for grabs!
Once again, wizards, witches and muggles will descend the town to enjoy a day of fun filled magical activities. Decorate your windows in a magical/Harry Potter theme. Perhaps you will turn your window into a potions laboratory, or a dark arts library? A wand, broomstick or hat makers?
1st prize: Trophy
Venue: Throughout the town
Cost: Free
Times: All Day
Fire Station
This crew could have saved the Burrow! Meet fire fighters, aerial ladder platform, animal rescue unit, face painting, children’s rides, demonstrations, refreshments. Free event.
The Wirksworth Fire Station will also be the location to find lost children for the day.
Where: Wirksworth Fire Station
When: 10am-3pm
Price: free event
Magical Makers’ Cavern
Making sessions for all crafty wizards and witches.. Create and keep an enchanting LEGO mini model. Make a charm bracelet or enchanted wand. Print your own spirit animal on a t-shirt or tot bag.
PRICES approx. £3 - £10 depending on activity
Location: The Maltings, St Mary’s Gate
Time: 10am-4:00pm
Cost: varies by activity, approx £3 -£10
Wirksworth Wizarding Supplies
Wirksworth’s wizarding supplies shop will once more apparate into a secret location on the Old Market Place. Only wizards and witches will be able to spot it, so please guide any muggle friends or family to its door. The shop sells officially licensed Harry Potter gifts from wands to t-shirts, key rings to stationery, bags to games.
The shop is once-again hidden from muggles, but will reveal itself at 9am on the 5th October. Step inside a magical world of official Harry Potter gifts and toys! It is the perfect place to find Christmas presents or treat yourself.
Head over to number 9 3/4 Market Place and check it out.
