Designer GES | Theme Harry Potter | |
Size 10,000 to 14,000 square feet depending on the host venue Admission Average Ticket Price: $25 | ||
Harry Potter: The Exhibition is an international traveling exhibition, created by Global Experience Specialists, featuring hundreds of authentic props, costumes, artifacts and set dressings from the Harry Potter feature films.
Contents
Overview
Designed for guests of all ages, the 10,000-square-foot exhibition displays iconic items including Harry Potter's original wand and eyeglasses, the Marauder's Map, the Golden Snitch, Gryffindor school uniforms, and costumes worn at the Yule Ball. The majority of artifacts featured were flown in from the Harry Potter film sets in Leavesden Studios just outside London.
The Exhibition's creators, Global Experience Specialists (GES), a leading exhibition and events company, and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, spent three years selecting items to be displayed. Designed to immerse guests using as many sensory experiences as possible, The Exhibition enchants visitors using sight, touch, smell and sound. Attendees get the chance to test their Quidditch skills and toss a Quaffle ball, pull a mandrake, sit inside Hagrid's Hut, or dissect owl pellets.
The end of the exhibit funnels visitors into Diagon Alley, a wizards' shopping destination in the movies and a gift shop for Muggles (those without magical powers).
The Exhibition made its world premiere on April 30, 2009, at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry – the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere. Since its opening, the exhibition has traveled across North America to Boston's Museum of Science, Toronto’s Ontario Science Centre, Seattle’s Pacific Science Center, and New York City's Discovery Times Square. It opened in Fall 2011 at its first international venue—the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. It then stopped at ArtScience Museum in Singapore. The exhibition also stopped in Canada and Sweden and after that it was shown at the Odysseum Adventure Museum in Cologne, Germany. Currently, the exhibition is shown la Cité du Cinéma in Saint Denis, France.
Eddie Newquist, one of the creators behind the Exhibition, explains that GES and Warner Bros.' goal was to display the most popular props from each of the films, so that fans would feel a sense of familiarity. "We wanted to pick fan favorites," said Newquist. "With each film, [the exhibition] has amassed new items. You'll see plenty of familiar characters."
Settings depicted
Throughout the Harry Potter films, most of Harry's adventures take place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Therefore, Harry Potter: The Exhibition uses themed environments inspired by the Hogwarts movie sets as backdrops for the artifacts and costumes on display including the Gryffindor™ common room, Hagrid’s hut and the Great Hall.
Sorting
The public who go to see the exhibition can get sorted into the Four Houses of Hogwarts, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Most people pick Gryffindor due to Harry Potter.
Gryffindor Common Room
Gryffindor is one of the four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, are all members of Gryffindor, the house known for bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry.
The Gryffindor common room can be found in one of Hogwarts castle’s towers – and its entrance is guarded by a painting of the Fat Lady. She will only allow entry upon being given the correct password, which changes frequently. You will have the opportunity to pass through the frame of the Fat Lady portrait and get a glimpse at costumes worn by famous Gryffindor students and the items that filled the common room and boys’ dormitory.
Hagrid's Hut
Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid lives with his dog Fang in a hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid’s enormous presence and booming voice belie his soft heart, and he becomes a loyal friend to Harry, Ron and Hermione – who often drop into Hagrid’s hut for a visit (despite his questionable cooking skills).
As Hagrid is half-giant, all of the furniture and many of the other items in his home are over-sized. The Exhibition gives visitors a chance to look inside Hagrid's hut, sit in his giant chair and see what’s cooking… or hatching.
The Great Hall
Lit by thousands of candles that float above the room, and with a ceiling bewitched to look like the sky outside, the Great Hall at Hogwarts serves as the main meeting area for students – and is where students share meals and receive owl post. The start-of-term feast, Sorting Ceremony and the end-of-term feast are held here, as are special events like the Yule Ball. The Exhibition allows visitors to see some of the smaller artifacts that were part of the most memorable Great Hall moments in the Harry Potter film series.
Tour dates and locations
In chronological order of first exhibition: