A Celebration of Harry Potter

A Celebration of Harry Potter was an annual three-day weekend event held on the last weekend of January at Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure theme parks at Universal Orlando Resort. The event was a celebration of the fandom of the Harry Potter books, authored by J. K. Rowling, and the Wizarding World franchise (including the Harry Potter film series and Fantastic Beasts film series), in a collaboration between Universal Parks & Resorts, Warner Bros. Entertainment, who owns the franchise, and Scholastic, publishers of the book series in the United States. The inaugural event took place on the weekend of January 24–26, 2014 and the final event on the weekend of January 26–28, 2018.

The event featured film talent Q&A sessions, discussion panels, special demonstrations, photo-ops, expos from Pottermore, the Wizarding World franchise, Scholastic, graphic designer company MinaLima and film props and costumes brought in from the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter in Leavesden and Harry Potter: The Exhibition. Talent Q&A sessions, discussion panels and special demonstrations where held between the Universal Music Plaza Stage at Universal Studios Florida and the Toon Lagoon Amphitheater at Universal's Islands of Adventure, while photo-ops and expos were held between Universal Studios' Soundstage 33 and Soundstage 21.

During the event's debut in 2014, the Diagon Alley expansion phase of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida was still under construction at the time, raising an expectation among the celebration's attendees at what to expect of the new area of the theme park, which was set to open that same year. After the passing of Alan Rickman in 2016 and John Hurt in 2017, who played Severus Snape and Garrick Ollivander in the films, respectively, attendees paid tribute to both actors. After Rickman's passing, attendees gathered in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, outside the London area of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, to raise their wands in his memory,[1] an act that was portrayed in the sixth Potter film, after the death of Albus Dumbledore, which has been repeated on informal occasions at the passing of many actors of the Harry Potter films. One attendee placed a single lily in front of the potions classroom door of the queue of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, not only as a symbol of Rickman's passing, but also his character's love for Lily Potter.[2] After Hurt's passing, attendees gathered in front of Ollivander's Wand Shop at both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and paid tribute to the actor with their wands in the air as well.[3]

In September 2018, Universal announced the event would not take place in 2019 as they focused on the construction of Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which at the time was not yet officially named and opened on June 13, 2019. No announcement was made for a 2020 edition of the event, prompting it to be cancelled for a second year in a row. As no details have been announced regarding the future of the event, it may have ultimately been cancelled.

Many actors from the films have attended the celebration, some in multiple occasions, including: Matthew Lewis (2014, 2016, 2017), James and Oliver Phelps (2014, 2015, 2018), Evanna Lynch (2014–2016), Devon Murray (2014), Mark Williams (2014),[4] Michael Gambon (2015), Robbie Coltrane (2015),[5] Rupert Grint (2016), Bonnie Wright (2016, 2018), Katie Leung (2016),[6] Tom Felton (2017), Jason Isaacs (2017), Warwick Davis (2017),[7] Stanislav Ianevski (2018) and Natalia Tena (2018).[8]