THE FAMILY EXPERIENCE

• At check-in on Thursday, families select a representative (usually the youngest family member) to take the stool as the ancient but wise E7 Sorting Hat places them in one of four Houses. Each House is named for a magical creature: House of the Unicorn, House of the Dragon, House of the Hippogriff, and House of the Sphinx.

• There will be a series of informal workshops and family activities to enjoy together Thursday afternoon before Enlightening officially opens at 5pm.  Download a timetable and description of Thursday's activities here.

• The Welcoming and Closing Feasts are a great opportunity for bonding as families join their House tables in Penn’s castle-like Hall of Flags, sing the school song with their favorite faculty and staff, and chat with the house elves as they serve the family-style feasts.
  

• Pull up a pillow or beanbag chair to relax as our guest readers share their favorite scenes, and you can bring your own ideas and theories to the table at our family book discussions.
  

• On Saturday night, Kids, Tweens and Teens produce an Open House to show the adults the performances and works of art they have created during the event. After the Open House session, all families gather in the Auditorium for the E7 Finale.
  

• Over the four days, families compete to win points towards the E7 House Cup in the Magical and Mythical Trivia Challenge, the Quad-Wizards Family Tournament, the Every-Flavor Bean-Tasting Contest (and we mean every flavor), and other special events. 

Enlightening PremiereFest

The scheduled release date for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie in the series, is Friday, July 13, 2007.  E7 participants will have a chance to view the film at either a red-carpet midnight showing Thursday night or an early morning showing on Friday. Then everyone will gather for a giant celebration Friday evening at the Enlightening PremiereFest.  The idea behind PremiereFest is to showcase the many different ways in which one book has inspired a community to connect with each other and, in the process, create new "art," which is what Bonding over Books is all about.  From 5:30 - 9:30pm we will commandeer the gothic buildings and outdoor common area of U Penn's Perelman Quadrangle for our festivities, which include MuggleCast's live podcast, a special E7 concert by the Moaning Myrtles, fan fiction story-telling sessions, the E7 art gallery, and many games, activities and hands-on art projects.

To add to the celebration, we will be opening PremiereFest to the public!  We will release a limited number of tickets for pre-purchase on May 25, 2007, but E7 participants will have a one-week opportunity beginning May 18 to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public for friends and family not attending E7 but who want to join in celebrating PremiereFest.  Of course, E7 participants do not need tickets to attend PremiereFest - it's included in the registration fee.  For everyone else, tickets will be sold through the E7 Web site for $40 each on a first-come, first-served basis and will include admission to all of the PremiereFest events.