Remember that bit in The Chamber Of Secrets where Harry isn’t allowed to go to Hogwarts and Vernon Dursley bars up his window to stop him from escaping? Right – well, this is a tiny bit like that except instead of the imprisonment to bedrooms it’s just King’s Cross kindly asking fans of Harry Potter to stay away from the station on a specific day. You won’t need a flying car to get into London that day, either.
Each year, tradition means that Potterheads flock – robes, wands, and house colours in tow – to the station on September 1 to celebrate ‘Back To Hogwarts Day’ over by the Platform 9 3/4 monument sticking out of the station wall. Marking the start of a new Hogwarts term in the fictional world of Harry Potter, it also involves a mass countdown from the station to symbolise the Hogwarts Express leaving the platform and ferrying the witches and wizards over to the magical school.
This year, however, the event will not go ahead, and fans of the show have been asked to stay away from Kings’ Cross on Back To Hogwarts Day. After starting small, the event’s popularity has grown in recent years meaning the crowds have led to heavy demand on the station. So this year, there won’t be any of the usual announcements, songs, train board changes, and music that goes on for Back To Hogwarts Day.
Speaking on the cancellation, Warner Bros. Discovery said: “There will be no event, departure board, or countdown at the station this year.
“Instead, everyone is invited to tune in and join proud Hufflepuff and King of the Jungle, Sam Thompson in a celebration of Back to Hogwarts on the official Harry Potter YouTube channel at 11:00am BST.”
There will also be ways to celebrate Back To Hogwarts Day across London away from the train station, which includes the films hitting cinema screens around London; a ‘Wand Dance Workshop’ with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s Resident Movement Director Tash Holway; and a celebratory event at House of MinaLima in London.
Head over to the Harry Potter YouTube channel on September 1 at 11am for a celebration with Sam Thompson. Find out more about what’s going on across the world for ‘Back To Hogwarts Day’ here.
