Calgary neighbourhood celebrates Harry Potter's birthday by becoming Diagon Alley

• The latest on this story:Roads closed as thousands descend on Kensington for Harry Potter-themed day

Some Calgary businesses are servingup butterbeer, chocolate frogs and Hogwarts breakfast bennies.

The wizarding world is takingover the shopping district of Kensington on Sunday, transforming the area into Diagon Alley.

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It's all in celebrationof two big occasions: Harry Potter's 36th birthday and the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the script for a new play being performed in London's West End,

The muggle who organized the magical event said it wasn't hard to get businesses on board.

"There's still a really Harry Potter zeitgeist out here. It's a little bit of magic that we're all not ready to give up yet," Alex May told the Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday.

Costumes, quidditch and golden snitches

Harry Potter fans are encouraged to dress up in costume and check out the many storesthat are decorated like the Diagon Alley shopsin the Harry Potter novels.

For example, Pages will take a page from Flourish and Blott's Bookstore and Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut is dressing up as Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

"All of their beautiful boxes that are already wrapped in the copper just really lent themselves well to a bank kinda feel," said May.

"They're going to have white chocolate owls, like Hedwig."

Calgary Eyeopener6:22Kensington becomes Diagon Alley

We talk to a Calgary Harry Potter super-fan about this weekend's Harry Potter festival in the Kensington neighbourhood.

Pumpkin Juice (an iced pumpkin latte) and Polyjuice Potion (chocolate matcha latte, hot or iced) ison offer at theRed Bush Tea and Coffee Company and there will also be 20 golden snitches hidden in the area.

May said if you find one, takea selfiewith it andand tweet out the photo withthe #snapthesnitchtobe entered into a draw to win a prize.

Spend A Day in Kensington Diagon Alley runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here are some events Potter fans won't want to miss:

• Calgary Kelpies Quidditchand theUniversity of Calgary Mudbloods will battle each other on brooms at Riley Park from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

• Storybook Theatreis doing astaged reading at the Plaza Theatre of the new Harry Potter play 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can withproceeds going J.K. Rowling's Lumos charity and theEllie Tims Project.