I can’t tell you how much I love going to The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, seeing the Great Hall, the sets and the props from the films, and Hogwarts in all its glory. It’s such a wonderful experience if you’re a fan of the books, films or the whole franchise.

I’ve posted about the studio tour before, but during the Christmas period it’s a whole other world. They really decorate for the season, and have little extras that you won’t find at any other time of the year. The overlay is called ‘Hogwarts in the Snow’, which is a reference to the finale of the tour, but encompasses all of the fabulously festive additions.

This post is going to focus solely on the Christmassy bits, so if you want to see the main sections of the tour first, then check out my previous post here.

Hogwarts at Christmas must be the most magnificent place to celebrate and the Great Hall is completely magical.

I mean….wow. And of course Neville’s famous cardigan makes an appearance.

They also show you how they light the Christmas puddings!A fave of mine are the witches flying around the top of the trees. They actually move around in a circle.

The focus is on Hogwarts’ great feasts that they have year after year and the Yule Ball from ‘The Goblet of Fire’.

Just check out that ice sculpture!Moving through to the main exhibition space there’s a stall with examples of how they make ice and snow for the screen. It’s really interesting and you can feel all the different kinds of snow that they use for different types of shots.

You’ll be pleased to know that only biodegradable snow is used for outdoor shoots, and surprised to know that they cover clear plastic with clingfilm to look like ice.

You can also see how they simulate fire, using some magic with LED lights.

They’ve also dressed the sets with Christmas decorations, like trees, garlands and Christmas cards. Mrs Weasley’s knitted jumpers are even on display too.

There’s snow falling outside the windows of the Weasley family house, and they have a snow machine pumping snow out over the outdoor area with the Knight Bus and Privet Drive. All the snow made everything feel so wintry!

Although, nothing you see throughout the tour can prepare you for the final stage.

Hogwarts in the snow.

Hogwarts is always here, but the snow only comes in the winter. It’s a scale model that was used in the films and they add snow to it for the festive period.

It’s not just a light sprinkling though, it’s all carefully placed and distributed for a realistic look. The lights also go up and down simulating day turning to night and the snow takes on a blueish glow for the latter.

It’s just incredible and honestly the photos really don’t do it justice. You need to see it in real life to take in all the little areas complete with its dusting of snowy white.

Magical!

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the little festive additions, and if you want to experience it for yourself then ‘Hogwarts in the Snow’ is on until the 28th of January.