Long familiar to Philadelphians for its giant, walk-through heart, its flight-simulating air show and its IMAX Theater, the Franklin Institute Science Museum recently opened its doors to the big deal, world premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition.
Running through September 18, 2022 at the the Franklin Institute, this celebration of all things Harry Potter is an interactive, immersive trip through author J.K. Rowling’s Potter books and films (including her Fantastic Beasts prequels), the whole of the Wizarding World, and all of the film’s costumes, wands, potions and other ephemera.
Before you wonder what exactly I was doing at a Harry Potter event, know this: the entire experience was cool for all Potterheads, kids and adults, alike. Plus, the Franklin Institute excels at this sort-of film-based exhibition with past, sensory-overloading excursions into the cinematic world of Star Trek, and Star Wars. Even if you don’t know much about Harry Potter, the exhibition’s dedication to cinematic detail is worth the price of admission.
The thrill of Harry Potter: The Exhibition starts as soon as you get to its train station mock-up entrance, the iconic King’s Cross Station where Harry and his friends entered through Platform 9 ¾ to catch the Hogwarts Express. Once there, you’re asked to take your photo, choose your team (Gryffindor, of course), pick your fan-favorite character wands (I went with Harry), and one’s Patronus (I chose the terrier).
Once through this entrance portal, you’re treated to something of a personalized trek based on your choices – the direction in which you’ll travel, the film series’ original costumes and props you’ll see in a specific order, and the immersive technology in which you’ll take part that allow you to mix potions and stare down one’s future through interactive orbs in the Divination room. The exhibition’s dedication to detail, how every bit of your journey’s surrounding environment touches on the familiar, how your eye wanders to the farthest corner of each room lest you miss something – seeing Harry Potter: The Exhibition just once, doesn’t quite do it justice.
For all of the richness of its nooks and crannies and the exhibition’s rich digital interactivity, my favorite part of the show was totally analog and old school: I am a sucker for seeing original costumes from my favorite films. With that as my goal, I paid special attention to Maggie Smith’s Professor Minerva McGonagall outfit (my wife’s favorite, and taller than I imagined it would be), Kenneth Branagh’s duds from his Chamber of Secrets’ character, Gilderoy Lockhart (the blue velvet looked freshly intact) and, of course, the all-black robes used by the late, great Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts and the head of Slytherin House. Yes, I posed next to the Snape gear, proudly. Yes, I probably pretended that I was Snape for a moment, but then again, I would.
The Franklin Institute’s 18,000-square-foot exhibition holds 21 mini-galleries such as a Great Hall, Hagrid’s Hut, Hogwarts Castle and its Houses (the latter where you can take a photo of yourself in your very own Sorting Hat), Newt’s Suitcase and the Herbology Greenhouse.
The entire Exhibition’s walk’s lighting is suitably moody and underlit for a noir atmosphere. The lines are long, but move quickly. And your endpoint, after seeing this wealth of Potter-ania up-close and personal, is a gift shop where you’ll go mad trying to figure out what not to buy – the chalices of fire, the bottled Butterbeer, the dozens of house-bound scarves or the prized collectible artwork from MinaLima, the graphic design duo behind all Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films.
Enjoy Harry Potter: The Exhibition. I did.
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