Alexandria Apothecary Museum's Harry Potter Event Goes Virtual

UPDATE: The trivia event on July 31 has been cancelled. The Office of Historic Alexandria shared the following statement on the event page:

While OHA intended to leverage a popular annual museum program to share elements of Alexandria’s African American history, residents have raised concerns about the event being perceived as disrespectful. Disrespect was never our intent and we have canceled the event. OHA strives to create historical programs that are uplifting and done through a lens of equity. Unfortunately, we failed to do so with this event. We are very proud of our African American history and always want to improve the visitor experience. We appreciate those community members letting us know their concerns.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum's Harry Potter birthday celebration, a favorite for visitors in Alexandria, will move online due to the pandemic.

The museum has held events for fans of J.K. Rowling's popular series, connecting the magical world of herbology and potions to Alexandria's historic apothecary. But since the museum remains closed, Historic Alexandria has planned activities for July 31 (Harry's 40th birthday) and through early August.

A trivia event at 9 p.m. on July 31 will look at Alexandria’s African American history through the eyes of the "Harry Potter" series. The event will be held through Zoom and includes cocktail recipes. A Zoom invitation and cocktail recipes will be provided with the purchase a $5 ticket. Attendees are encouraged to dress in wizard-inspired attire for the trivia event. Each ticket holder will be entered into a drawing, with five random winners selected.

Online ticket sales will end at noon on July 30. The event is recommended for teens and adults only due to the content being discussed.

The other event is an online scavenger hunt aimed for children ages 9 to 13. It will feature local history trivia questions that can be completed electronically in Survey Monkey or by printing a PDF. Participants should turn in the electronic version or completed paper copy to the Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum by Aug. 7 to be entered for a drawing. Five random winners will be selected. All answers can be found by searching online.

The online scavenger hunt is free, but donations to Historic Alexandria are welcome.