More than 250 guests – dressed as characters from the world of Harry Potter books and films – frequented An evening at Hogwartsa fundraiser for the Sault Area Hospital Foundation’s cancer fund at the Machine Shop on Saturday.

The fictional character Harry Potter – created by novelist JK Rowling – is an 11-year-old boy who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Saturday marked the fifth edition An evening at Hogwarts fundraising.

“In the first two years we raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society, but we decided to focus more locally on the Sault Area Hospital Foundation Cancer Fund because we were all affected by cancer in one way or another. People love the Harry Potter characters, the storylines, the adventures and it’s a fun way to raise money for cancer,” said Megan Becker, An evening at Hogwarts co-chair of the organizing committee in an interview with SooToday.

Since its beginnings, An evening at Hogwarts raised more than $140,000 to support the Sault Area Hospital Foundation’s cancer fund.

60 volunteers worked on Saturday’s fundraiser which began with a Wee Wizard tour from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for children.

Dinner – a four-course meal prepared by The Machine Shop – began at 6 p.m. and the evening’s festivities will continue until 9 p.m.

“The machine shop is a great place for what we do. It brings our Hogwarts to life with its architecture. We have things like St. Mungo’s, the magical hospital, with an operation game where people try to save their patients with magic, lots of photo ops with Harry Potter themed items. We have an office for Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have a lot of interactive activities,” Becker said.

More information on An evening at Hogwarts – SSM can be found on the group’s social media page.