Harry Potter was first published 20 years ago this year. From there, the books became a worldwide phenomenon, spawning six more books, eight films, and now five spin-off films. The legacy of J.K. Rowling’s characters lives on long after the books have stopped coming. For four years now, Universal Orlando has given fans the opportunity to celebrate Harry Potter in a huge three day celebration. This year, however, seemed like it was bigger than ever as fans flocked from all over, to not only celebrate their favorite wizard, but also dress like characters from his world.
Check out our highlight reel below for a great look at some of the characters, and amazing cosplay from the most magical weekend of the year!
Watch-Get a glimpse of the characters from the Wizarding World in this awesome video!
Cosplay is becoming a larger part of popular culture, and it’s finding it’s way into the parks more and more. From Bounding (dressing in coordinating colors to match your favorite character), to robes and full on costumes, it’s a great way to show your allegiance to a character, and have a lot of fun doing it. Universal Japan welcomes fans to dress up year round, while Universal Orlando only welcomes Cosplay during Celebration. However, the parks sell amazing robes that you can wear all the time, and get into the fun just a little more than usual.
Fans dressed in robes, dresses and scarves to imitate their favorite characters. The amazing attention to detail, as well as the creativity that went into some of the costumes were simply amazing. The most magical thing was seeing perfect strangers interact with each other, as they met up. From acting out scenes to posing for pictures, it’s simply the best place in the world to do it.
One of our favorites was the Hogwarts Express. A little guy in a wheelchair took part in the fun, as he and his family chugged along the streets of Diagon Alley. the train had real working lights, a little plume of smoke, and was just all around cool.
New this year, guests were dressing up as characters from the new Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. We especially love that the new characters seemed to be embraced by all genders, and made for some really amazing photo ops. Nothing like seeing a crowd of wizards just hanging out on the doorsteps of a Diagon Alley shop.
While there were tons of newts, one of our favorite (and most original) was the Nifler from the film. This little guy steals the show by stealing everything that’s shiny. Here, we see him stealing the spotlight from a few other characters from Fantastic Beasts.
Slideshow-Check out hundreds of pictures from this year’s Celebration!
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We will be bringing you tons more from A Celebration of Harry Potter, so stay tuned!
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