Wazzup Pilipinas!
"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er — let our hair down."- Minerva McGonagall on the Yule Ball
The Yule Ball scene from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is one of the most magical moment in the Harry Potter movies since it showed many of the movie characters at their best and most glamorous look.
According to a website about the wizarding world of Harry Potter, The Yule Ball is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament. It is a formal dance held on Christmas night of a tournament year and is opened by the tournament champions and their partners in the Champions Waltz.
At Hogwarts, where the Yule Ball was held in 1994, only students of fourth year and above were permitted to attend, though younger students could also go if an older student invited them to accompany them. It is normally led off by the three Champions and their partners; in Harry's fourth year, of course, there are four champions, and thus four couples leading off the Ball.
At Hogwarts, where the Yule Ball was held in 1994, only students of fourth year and above were permitted to attend, though younger students could also go if an older student invited them to accompany them. It is normally led off by the three Champions and their partners; in Harry's fourth year, of course, there are four champions, and thus four couples leading off the Ball.
Portkey Events has arranged to hold something similar for their beloved Harry Potter fans who are mostly teens who adore the wizarding world. For the real Harry Potter fans, they would know that a Portkey is an object enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location. True enough, the organizers have been transporting its attendees to worlds beyond the Muggles.
Both organizers and attendees may be called geeks for knowing most of the facts and trivia about the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everything about their most prominent students studying there to be full-pledged wizards and witches someday, including the many professors with distinctive personalities, but these are obviously the classy geeks who know how to dress up at their finest as seen during PortKey Events' Yule Ball that was held on December 4, 2016 at the Blue Leaf Events Place in McKinley, Taguig.
Both organizers and attendees may be called geeks for knowing most of the facts and trivia about the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everything about their most prominent students studying there to be full-pledged wizards and witches someday, including the many professors with distinctive personalities, but these are obviously the classy geeks who know how to dress up at their finest as seen during PortKey Events' Yule Ball that was held on December 4, 2016 at the Blue Leaf Events Place in McKinley, Taguig.
After registering for the Yule Ball, you are give a complimentary wand. Yes! It's free and a great souvenir item for each wand is uniquely created. No two wands are alike since they are hand-made with love and affection by one of the founding members of Portkey Events.
I asked her to choose one for me since I couldn't decide which one to pick among the many wands laid out on the table. I would try to keep this as one of my lucky charms and hopefully I could come out with a matching spell that would bring me good fortune throughout the rest of my life.
The four founding members of Portkey Events were stunning in their long gowns. They must have intentionally loosen off some of their pounds so they would look awesome that night with their off-shoulder (except for one) outfit. Their dates must be so proud to be with them that night. They must be swooning in delight especially when the opportunity to dance finally arrived. Who wouldn't want to partner with these lovely ladies beautifully glowing like princesses.
The night was so fascinating to see so many individuals, mostly couples, wearing formal attires. I was out-of-place wearing my usual maong jeans and collared shirt, so I wore my long-sleeved dark blue jacket to be a little bit inconspicuous. Being a media partner, and not really part of the event, I thought it would be OK to come in as a regular individual - a human or what they call in the Harry Potter world as a "muggle," or lately at the newest movie of fantastic Beatss and Where To Find Them, a "nomaj!" - which probably means "no magic."
Still, I look pretty bad, in the company of these beautifully dressed individuals (both men and women - though so young in general), whom we should address now as bonafide witches and wizards, since they are playing the part of the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was a good thing there were two other photographers there who shared my dilemma. They may be wearing sort of formal outfits too but not as classy as these Harry Potter fans. How I wish I had the Invisibility Cloak instead.
Well, some of the attendees may have been invited as dates by the real Harry Potter fans, but coming to the this majestic Yule Ball must have encouraged them to join the club too. Indeed, we have to congratulate Portkey Events for being able to organize such an adorably magical gathering. It was really a rare opportunity for these attendees to let their hair down, and enjoy an ethereal night.
Overall, we would like to congratulate Portkey Events for organizing another successful event. They managed to fill up the room with amazing individuals who all looked their best. How I wish I was younger so I could have mingled easily with these beautiful people...or I could probably have just dressed up like one of the professors or since I am a bit fat, I could have come in as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant and half-human who is the gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts. Lol.
Awkward as it may seem, I cherished the night as well especially while seeing these young and vibrant folks enjoying themselves as they chat with each other all throughout the night while seated at their respective tables, and even while queuing at the photo-booth and dinner buffet, or doing their own selfies and photo ops with each other, and when they were enjoying the music during dance time, until it was finally time to go home.
Of course, we get to see a Harry Potter cosplayer as well.
The choir singing Harry Potter music while scenes from the movie are being projected on a big screen was an added bonus for the night. I didn't realize there was a balcony up there. I could have taken shots from above. But it was too late for me to climb up there because as soon as they've ended their performances, the lights turned off, the music played and the dances started before I could even say "Impedimenta!"
The "Tarantallegra!" spell was stronger that night!
But there were no enemies that night since everyone was obviously on their greatest mood as many like-minded witches and wizards, along with their respective dates, danced the night away with some popular music from both the Harry Potter wizarding world and us lowly Muggles who did nothing that night but to immortalize, as much as possible, almost everyone on both photo and video.
The photo booth was definitely a big hit as all lined up to get their souvenir shots where they did their wackiest or most romantic pose or "kilig" pose for the night. It will surely bring back smiles every time they see their Yule Ball souvenir photos.
As what the charming witch who goes by the name of Filipinas might say, "Continue to hop on to our broomsticks, Potter fans, because we're definitely going to the Yule Ball again next year! The night may have ended for this year's Yule Ball, but the magical memories will undoubtedly live on forever in our hearts."
Hey, I couldn't put all the photos here so if you want to see the rest please check out our Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/wazzuppilipinas
More videos are currently in the works and can be found soon at http://www.YouTube.com/wazzuppilipinas
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
Post a Comment