With Yule and most of the other winter holidays behind us, you might feel a little disappointed that there’s not much to look forward to other than winter. Fear not! The Whomping Willows and Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills have put together a January tour to help alleviate some of the post-holiday depression. It has been dubbed the Wizard Balls tour, and goes from New York to Oklahoma City and back again, stopping at some major events along the way: two January Yule Balls.

The first Yule Ball along the way is the Crystal Ball, hosted by hp-ohio. It started five years ago as hp-ohio’s Yule Party, held at members’ houses or smaller venues. I spoke with Monica, one of the organizers, and she told me, “Each year it was a little bigger and grander but by the third year we’d evolved to the point that it was a formal costume event with catering. After that event we were all sitting around talking about how awesome it would be to have a ‘real’ ball just like in Book 4. We all started throwing out ideas of what would be perfect: a catered dinner, ballroom dancing, firewhiskey, disco dancing, IN A CASTLE, with Draco and the Malfoys playing at the end”. A castle in Ohio? Wasn’t that just a pipe dream?

As it turns out, no. There are several castles in Ohio, and Monica spent the spring of 2006 finding the perfect one. “It was a little like Goldilocks, one castle was just like Hogwarts but it didn’t allow anyone in after dark, another was closed for the Winter, a third had no bathrooms!” Luckily, there was one that fit their needs perfectly: Landoll’s Mohican Castle. The 2006 ball had everything but the Malfoys. In May of 2007, at Phoenix Rising, Monica was fortuitous enough to play on a Quidditch team with Brian Ross and asked him what he thought about performing for that year’s ball. He said he’d “love to play in an effing castle!”. Their Yule Ball was complete.

In past years, the ball has been held the last weekend in November, but Thanksgiving was fairly late this year, and December tends to be a hectic time for everyone. So the Crystal Ball was pushed back to January 9th, 2009. Monica said, “The response to the change has been great and I think we’ll probably hold it at around the same time in 2010.” This year’s lineup consists of The Whomping Willows and Draco and the Malfoys. The ball is for adults 18 and over only.

After spending over an hour in the freezing cold last year, trying to say goodbye to everyone and not wanting to leave, an idea popped up. Why not have a second day event? “We wanted to include some other bands at the ball but also maintain our format of dinner, dancing and Wizard Rock and there just wasn’t time to do both so the second day concert seemed like a perfect solution.” This year, on January 10th, there will be a second concert at Loudonville’s Lions Club, featuring The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills, Witherwings, and Tom Riddle and Friends. This is open to all ages and starts at 2pm.

According to Monica, “The ball really is the highlight of hp-ohio’s year and we’re thrilled that so many others are joining us for it.” And if you needed yet another reason to attend, a certain wrocker turns 30 on January 9th! Come party with Matt Maggiacomo and reassure him that being in your thirties and writing songs from the perspective of a fictional tree are not mutually exclusive. Hope to see some of you there!