A breathtaking installation of nine giant wands will illuminate the gardens in Leicester Square in London, where Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had its premiere back in 2001, as excitement builds for the 20th anniversary of the film’s release.
Standing fifteen feet tall and forming an 18 metre walkway, the wands are exact replicas of those belonging to nine of the most beloved characters in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and join Harry Potter and eight other bronze statues in the award-winning Scenes in the Square installation.
All nine wands will be illuminated from 6pm until 8.35pm every evening from 13th to 25th October and will perform regular light shows to music from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts on scheduled days.
The wands will form part of Inside Out Festival – a brand new, free festival produced by Westminster City Council and partners, that brings art, entertainment, and culture outdoors to the streets of Westminster, and will run until the end of October.
Polly Cochrane, Country Manager UK & Ireland at Warner Bros. says, “We are thrilled to unveil the Wizarding World Wands in London’s Leicester Square to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone being released in UK cinemas and look forward to next year’s release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
“Leicester Square itself has played its part in the Wizarding World legacy by hosting premieres for the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films over two decades, so we are delighted to bring the wands here for fans to enjoy.”
The official 20th Anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will be marked on the 16th November 2021, and celebrated throughout the Autumn, with special screenings in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from 29th October. Other celebrations include a tour of the Platform 9 ¾ Trolley which will be installed at train stations in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast.
Following the announcement of the UK release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the wands will next tour four UK cities in the lead up to the 8th April release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in cinemas, following a nationwide vote on the wands’ next destinations. Victorious locations Hull, Stoke, Reading and Birmingham will each display the wands for a week from March onwards.
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