When the long-awaited “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie premiered in theatres in November of 2016, Harry Potter fans of all ages were dazzled by beasts of all kinds, from Nifflers to Thunderbirds.
For those wanting to take the magic a little further, the Florida Museum of Natural History will be hosting “Fantastic Beasts of the Museum,” an event dedicated to the most recent movie and the Harry Potter universe as a whole.
The event, which will take place Saturday, will be free to the public and run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Florida Museum, located at 3215 Hull Road. Food and drink will be available to purchase from High Springs Orchard and Bakery.
The Youth Leadership Board of the Florida Museum is putting on the event. Eve Rowland, a 19-year-old UF zoology freshman, helped develop this program, which is designed to attract more youth to the museum.
“The Youth Leadership Board has students aged 12 to 18 that are going to design programs for teens, by teens,” Rowland said.
Rowland added that the Youth Leadership Board has been working on this event for months. She said the students involved planned the event and she facilitated anything they might need.
Rowland said she hasn’t read any of the Harry Potter books and pointed out that the students on the Youth Leadership Board have really taken the reins in planning out the logistics of the event.
“The kids who are in the program explain everything to me,” she said.
As for the event itself, there will be two main activities, including house trivia and a Fantastic Beasts scavenger hunt, Rowland said. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the museum in search of animals that have been paired up with beasts from the movie.
Rahel Faruque, a 22-year-old UF public relations sophomore, said he grew up a Harry Potter fan, reading all of the books and seeing every movie. Although he has not read the “Fantastic Beasts” book yet, he said he still plans on attending the “Fantastic Beasts” event, especially after seeing the movie in theatres.
“I love the way they incorporated wizardry into North America and showed a new side to the Harry Potter universe that we didn’t know existed,” he wrote in an email. “Watching the movie did motivate me to check the event out because I want to see how the museum will bring the magic alive.”
The museum and the Youth Leadership Board hope to do just that with “Fantastic Beasts of the Museum,” Rowland said.
The event is a part of a greater effort to bring more youth to the museum and to the Youth Leadership Board program, which will have open applications within the year for others to join and help create events like this one for other students.
“The teenagers know what other teenagers want,” Rowland said. “We’re really hoping that this event goes well so we can keep the program and attract more people.”
