Giovanni Caboto Park was taken over by wizards, witches and muggles Wednesday evening as hundreds gathered for movie night in the park.
The free family event was hosted by the McCauley Community League.
President Greg Lane said the central-Edmonton community wanted to show itself a different light.
“Sadly, a lot of the attention we get in the media sometimes isn’t the most positive,” Lane said. “So we really wanted to highlight that there’s families here, this is a community for everybody and we like to get together to have some fun.
“This is home for all of us and we’re very proud of it.”
The park, at 9425 109A Avenue, was full of activity hours before show time, which Lane said is not unusual. He estimated about 150 kids played in the park earlier in the day.
The area is constantly growing and changing. Lane said a number of development permits have been submitted recently and he has seen more families move into the neighbourhood.
He said events like Harry Potter movie night help to connect people.
“It brings the residents, it brings the people from other parts of the city into the community to meet everybody here,” Lane said. “Then we can focus on what a thriving community it really is.”
Jordynn Vis, the organizer of movie night, has lived in the area for four years and is a member of the McCauley Community League board.
As a test run, the community hosted a movie night last summer that featured the comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
After that success, Vis thought she was ready to host an event showing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
“We wanted to have the event in our community and kind of showcase that this is McCauley, we’re downtown, we have a friendly atmosphere and we love doing these events for our community,” she said. “But we knew with the Harry Potter event the whole city would kind of be invited.”
Organizers estimate about 300 people attended the event.