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Wands and credit cards at the ready! We’ve been eagerly anticipating the upcoming Harry Potter exhibit at the New-York Historical Society for months now, and we finally have official dates and ticket information to share.
The exhibit is titled Harry Potter: A History of Magic, and it will be on display in NYC from October 5 through January 27, 2019. Members of the New-York Historical Society can reserve tickets on February 14 starting at noon. Everyone else has to wait until April for general public tickets, so yeah, you should sign up here to become a member right about now.
The exhibit lets you channel your inner Hermione and pore over rare books and manuscripts, including drafts by J.K. Rowling and sketches by illustrators Mary GrandPré and Jim Kay, on display for the very first time. You can also study the same subjects taught at Hogwarts, from Alchemy to Arithmancy to Herbology. (We’re sure you’d get a O in Muggle Studies.)
The exhibit also includes historical artifacts related to magic—the philosopher's stone dates back to Ancient Greece in real life, long before Voldemort got his hands on it. (Or Quirrell got his hands on it, if we’re speaking literally.)
The exhibit isn’t the only thing making it a big year for Potterheads: The 20th anniversary of the publication Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S. is on September 1. It will be preceded by the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which begins previews in March and opens on April 22. (Oh yeah, and there are those Harry Potter–themed restaurants that are really just basic pasta restaurants.)
The exhibit is currently on display at the British Library in London until February 28, so if you can’t wait until this fall, you could always book a plane ticket now. Or just don your best invisibility cloak and visit the places in NYC that make you feel like you’re Harry Potter.
Illustration: Courtesy Jim Kay
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