Beginning June 9th, Hogsmeade will be celebrating Charming's 2nd birthday by having an IC Summer Solstice Festival! Not only will there be gifts and prizes for our members, but there will also be tons of fun for our characters too! The festival will last for the entire summer (June - August approx.) and there is even an option to create a temporary character that works for the traveling carnival. For more information, read on!

The Summer Solstice Festival will have its own forum starting June 9th. Carnies will be accepted from June 1st until August 1st. They cannot be RPed until June 9th when the forum is created, despite having been accepted before then. This way, we can already have existing carnies ready to play when it's time to celebrate! If you post IC before June 9th as a Carnie, your Carnie creating privileges will be revoked. More information about Carnie's can be found below.

— The Parade:
The very first thing that will happen on June 9th, is the parade that will be given by the traveling carnival as they enter the town. They will be traveling down the entirety of High Street and settling in a sparsely populated portion to the west of the Hogwarts Gate right next to the Black Lake. Candy and toys will be thrown out to the crowd that lines the streets, music will be played as well as confetti and small fireworks shot off. It'll be a noisy yet exciting and fun affair that nobody will want to miss!

— The Bonfires:
The evening of June 9th will mark the start of the summer. A large bonfire will be lit in the center of the carnival where people are invited to sit around and not only keep themselves warm, but also enjoy the festivities. Every evening following June 9th, the bonfire will be lit to signify the nightly opening of the carnival.

— The Carnival:
The Carnival itself is mysterious in nature. It is completely silent in the light of the sun, but once night falls the color and boisterousness come out. It offers entertainment through games of chance (dice, cards, memory, etc.), merchants selling souvenirs (toys, miniatures of acts, matchsticks, paintings, etc.), animal acts (dragons, elephants, lions & tigers, unicorns, pegasi, trolls, etc.), a magic lantern show, a circus (acrobats, clowns, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, daredevils and fire eaters) and a victorian burlesque show.

The different activities are scattered about in unorganized fun, the locations of which seem to change every evening. Deliciously sweet, sticky and exotic foods can be purchased from different vendors, as can different costumes and wizard fireworks. The carnival opens at dusk, signified by the lighting of the big bonfire and is open until sunrise.

The entrance fee is cheap, though those who have no money can often sneak in while the ticket person isn't looking. Members from all social classes can attend, although they tend to stick to their own groups and ignore the rest. It is a great place to meet new people and have fun with others outside of a strict social gathering.

— The Carnies:
The Carnies are the people who run the carnival. They come in with the carnival on June 9th, run it every evening and then help pack it up and leave on the last day of summer. They can be of any age, gender or race, though all will belong to the lower class. (See carnival activities for occupation ideas.) They sleep and live inside the carnival. Occasionally, they will venture out on High Street for small bits of time during the day, but they generally like to keep to themselves until evening. If they are outside of the carnival too often, it'll ruin the air of mystery and excitement that they strive for.

These characters are temporary, although they do have the possibility to remain permanent if you decide you'd like to keep them. Granted, you'd have to come up with an IC reason for them to do so, as the carnival will leave, but it's entirely up to you. There is no limit to the number of Carnies you can create. However, you do need to keep up with the activity requirements of posting once a month in order to keep them active.

To apply, fill out a regular human application and make note that they work for the carnival.

— Stamps:
For those who like to collect stamps, there will be a stamp that you can collect if you play a carnie. You'll need to have 3 completed threads in order to collect it. Our second birthday stamp is also going to be available for claiming. For more details, see the stamp station. If you have any questions or need assistance regarding the SSF, please post as a reply to this thread.