New: ‘Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle'

The fresh Wizarding World of Harry Potter experience will open on June 23.

While a wizard is still a wizard regardless of the time on the clock, any maven of the magical arts can tell you that evening, as a general rule, affords ample adventure-making, let's-explore possibilities.

Especially, or so it seems, as Hogwarts. Delightful discoveries are made once it is lights-out at the famous wizarding school, and the moonlight has a way of illuminating fresh and phantasmogoric finds in J.K. Rowling's fantastical world.

And while Hogsmeade village inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood has been open after dark nearly nightly since its spring 2016 debut, a fantastical post-sunset spectacle hasn't yet been conjured up.

That conjuring will officially occur, however, beginning on Friday, June 23 when "The Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle" swirls into being via vibrant illumination, imagery, and nods to the quartet of houses that make up Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

The "dazzling light projection experience" will incorporate the high walls of the supernatural school as a see-it-from-afar screen.

Shall there be music lending lilt and drama to the show? There shall be, good wizards of Southern California. Did John Williams compose a "special musical arrangement" inspired by his work on the blockbuster films? It wouldn't be nearly as wizardy without the Academy Award winner's note-soaring touch.

Shall the effect by surround sound, lending extra kapow to any ears in the vicinity? That's the magical M.O. in the Potterverse, so, yes, expect the listening end of the projection show to really possess some power.

The Scene

Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.

Griffith Observatory will greet spring's start with a pair of cosmic talks

This free Santa Monica Pier party is “for locals, by locals”

"The Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle" is included in your Universal Studios Hollywood ticket or pass, as you might expect. But did you expect that the show will run several times each night?

Perhaps you did, if you know how important evening is, as a mood, setting, time, and state of mind to the phenom of a series. Prepare to connect with that after-gloaming time in a new way, outside Hogwarts, through waves of light and listening pleasure.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us