UPDATE: For 1st September 2024, fans are strongly discouraged from attending Kings Cross Station this year, as there will be no event, departure board or countdown held at the station. Instead, to celebrate Back to Hogwarts, we’ve got a whole host of fantastic things for fans to get involved with all around the world. Want to find out more? Check out everything you can do both physically and digitally to join in with Back to Hogwarts here.

What is Back to Hogwarts Day?

Glad you asked. Back to Hogwarts Day is a homegrown celebration created by Harry Potter fans on the 1st September every year, the day that Harry is due to board the Hogwarts Express and go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry for a new year on the 1st September. Paying homage to the iconic moment from the books and films, where Harry would disappear in between platforms nine and ten to reach platform nine and three-quarters and the half-way point between his life in the Muggle world and the wizarding world, fans love to countdown to 11 o’ clock, the time the Hogwarts Express train is due to set off.

The significance of King’s Cross Station

Years on from when the Harry Potter books were released, the real King’s Cross Station in London recognised its important placement in the stories. A luggage cart was installed into a wall, so fans could come and pretend to push their cart into a magical platform, just like Harry did, for some excellent photos. And eventually, a shop, aptly named Platform 9 ¾, popped up nearby, for Harry Potter fans to indulge in some Wizarding World goodies before embarking on their own journeys.

How to celebrate Back to Hogwarts around the world...

Over the years since the Harry Potter books and films were released, fans around the world have found all sorts of ways to celebrate this significant moment in Harry’s story, whether that was dressing up in your best Hogwarts robes, rewatching a movie, or even getting up at Silly O’ Clock to countdown the moment on UK time, or throwing your own magical bash. The hashtag BacktoHogwarts across social media is always in full swing to see what people are up to.

And in recent times, the 1st September has become a day of Wizarding World announcements and surprises.

So, get involved!

It doesn’t matter if you’re in your living room swishing around your wand (or whatever household object closely resembles one!) or out and about, raising a Butterbeer with friends and family to toast a new term of Hogwarts. So, whether this is your first time celebrating Back to Hogwarts Day or you’ve been counting down to 11 o’ clock every year since 1997... we want to hear from you. Share your own magic with us using the BacktoHogwarts hashtag online on 1st September. Because one day, if we wait patiently enough, an owl will turn up on our doorstep with our very own Hogwarts!

You can find out how we are celebrating Back to Hogwarts season 2024, be it physically or digitally, right here. You can also sign up to our handy newsletter at the Harry Potter Fan Club, to be kept constantly in the loop.