Harry Potter fans: lament. The event so many of you had been looking forward to has been cancelled after it gained too much attention.

Organisers of the three-day wizarding extravaganza - which had been scheduled to take place in Bearsden on June 23 to 25 - said they have been “blown away” by the enthusiasm for the festival but have had to call it off because of a variety of issues.

In a statement, they said: “We want to make it work but we now need much more time to do so.

Because it has grown so big, we have to sort out safety, parking, capacity, and licensing implications and we will not have enough time to do that for this year but want to work on that for some time in the future.

“We are a very small group of five local folk so please understand this has taken on a life of its own which is bigger than we can manage.

“We hope you understand and we know many will be disappointed, but after conversations with the police and our local council - who have both been incredibly helpful and supportive - we believe this is the right course of action for us - but watch this space for the future.”

To celebrate 20 years since J. K. Rowling’s ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’ was first published, locals had come together to turn the town into a spellbinding festival.

Butterbeer and Potter burgers were to be made available at a great Forbidden Forest BBQ, and there was also to be a special Room of Requirement at Café Crème in New Kirk Road.

Fantastic beasts would have been making an appearance and a Quidditch tournament and Harry Potter service was also set to take place with many other events lined up around the town.

The Herald reported on the event on Saturday and readers quickly showed enthusiasm for it: within hours, our Facebook post received almost 10,000 reactions, comments, and shares.

As fans from across the country and Europe became spellbound, organisers reminded them on Tuesday that it’s a “local event” and not “something like T in the Park.”

“We never imagined - foolishly perhaps - that people would be prepared to travel from down south and across from Ireland and even from the Netherlands for a Harry Potter festival," said organisers.

“We are absolutely going to be running a Harry Potter festival but we don’t want people to be disappointed in what they find,” they added before cancelling.