MESMERISING MUGGLES

Unify Productions’ Anthony Norris reveals all about Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience

Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment, in partnership with Unify Productions, Thinkwell, and Fever, welcomed more than 200,000 Harry Potter fans to an immersive light trail featuring creatures from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series.

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience closed its gates on January 16, following a three-month run at Arley Hall, Cheshire. As evening fell, Potterheads walked a 1.7-kilometre light trail, which meandered through ancient woodland; a mythical home to Hippogriffs, centaurs, unicorns, and Nifflers.

The outdoor experience was created by Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment in partnership with theatrical designer and experiential creator, Thinkwell, production partner Unify and entertainment discovery platform Fever.

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience offered fans a new way to enjoy some of the most iconic and magical wizarding world moments in a COVID-safe environment, as guests followed a oneway route through the Arley Hall Estate.

FOOT IN THE DOOR

Anthony Norris, co-founder of Unify Productions, is no stranger to working on large-scale, intricate, and imaginative events with big logistical challenges. So, producing Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience did not faze him. He knew it would take a lot of hard work, but it was necessary. “It’s the best thing I have ever done,” Norris explained, just days after completing a twoweek load out. “It’s amazing what you can achieve in 367 days.”

The experiential trail opened on October 16 – 367 days after the first conversation about the event took place. Norris continued: “As we came out of lockdown in 2020, I began reaching out to people and started chatting to Heather [McGill] who I had worked with on London 2012. I had also been chatting with the team at Raymond Gubbay about their Christmas light trails and was inspired. At the time, everyone was used to going out and being in nature. Heather and I began talking about what we could do in this space and what IPs were available.”

Harry Potter sprang to mind. During London 2012, Norris and McGill had worked with Thinkwell, which has unrivalled experience with the Harry Potter brand. “Heather had kept in touch with some of the team at Thinkwell,” Norris continued. “It gave us a foot in the door. Within 48 hours, we had a provisional ‘yes’ from Warner Brothers but we had to go back to them with a formed creative.”

PLANNING AND LOCATION

Unify was co-founded by Norris and McGill and what ensued was an intense period of planning and a big fat “yes” to the project. Unify collaborated with Thinkwell, which led on creative, and Fever, which took responsibility for marketing and PR. Unify was engaged as event producer, with McGill working on creative and Norris leading on “nuts and bolts” operations.

“We wanted to make sure we were working in harmony with the forest,” Norris added. “We didn’t want to bring in a ton of props. The forest was our backdrop. There were several big ticket items that we knew we wanted. We knew we wanted Hagrid, we knew we wanted a Hippogriff, and we knew we wanted Aragog. But we also knew that we wanted to use the forest and use the branches, for example, to hide lighting.”

Arley Hall’s gnarly wood was the perfect location for the experience. Up to eight other locations were looked at within the Manchester/Liverpool/Birmingham triangle. “We are blessed with many country estates,” said Norris. “But we needed to be able to close the doors and have the run of the forest, without having daily visitors peeping through and seeing what we were doing.”

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience took guests on a journey; it was not “installation based”. All elements were programmed around nautical twilight with staggered start times and as the evenings got darker, and British Summer Time ended, the experience started earlier, meaning that more people could experience the trail. When the event opened at 4pm, 3,000 people could pass through the trail, which comprised eight key themed experiences, as well as a themed food and beverage village inspired by Diagon Alley. This was created alongside Freemans Event Partners. During its run, guests consumed 58,000 Hogwarts Hot Chocolates, 20,000 themed donuts, and 45,000 bottles of Butterbeer.

According to Jason Mumby, director of client development at Freemans Event Partners, the food and drink at Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience was a great example of how an event’s food and beverage offer can be knitted into the content of an event. Furthermore, the food units were “unrecognisable” as they were themed to look like Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movies. Warner Brothers was “very specific” about what it wanted in terms of food and drink; the direction was clear and attention to detail was paramount.

LESSONS LEARNED

John King worked alongside Norris and took responsibility for health and safety. Adam Povey was engaged as lighting designer and Mark “Bluey” Hardwidge sat across technical production and site management. It was a big project and whilst not a festival site with 60,000 people on it, the site was demanding – a fact that Norris admitted to underestimating.

Now, as thoughts turn to 2022, Norris and McGill are digesting the lessons learned.

“We learned a lot about the land we’re working on,” he explained. “It’s not agreed that we will return to Arley Hall, but we’re keen to go back. I know that if we did, I want to change the design of the food and drink village, as the grass didn’t look great at the end of November. We also learned a lot about COVID and discovered that the levels of approval that you need to go through to get things signed off are intense.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Norris continued: “We want to do the experience again. In fact, we’re possibly expanding and creating six Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest experiences. Hence, the reason I’m terrified. Whether we get all venues away, who knows but we’ve got our head down on venue searches.”

Norris confirmed that the event has covered its costs and that developing the experience even further will take Unify’s “attention for a while”.

“It’s the best thing I have ever done,” he concluded. “From the smallest seed of an idea to the team that we assembled and to the growth we’ve seen, it’s been amazing. It felt like we’d created this big family unit, reminiscent of my festival days, and I haven’t felt that for 10-15 years.

“That first night, when you saw the public experiencing the trail for the first time, you knew you’d pulled off something special, but that’s testament to the team who have worked so incredibly hard, and for me that was the stand out moment.”

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Above and beyond

Paul Brindley, owner and director of Beyond Festival, discusses the new one-day event set to rock Leicester this June

Paul Brindley (known as Brina) is no stranger to the world of outdoor events. For years, he has created secret parties, provided event management and consultancy services to other organisers, and launched his own events.

Statfold Barn Festival launched in 2019, but the 2022 iteration of the festival has recently been cancelled; the festival’s venue was incredibly nervous about hosting the event. “It’s such a shame,” explains Brindley. “The venue has such potential and the festival had already built a loyal fanbase. COVID scuppered the event in 2020. In 2021, we fought the local authority over the premises licence and got them on board. We had started planning the 2022 event, but just a couple of weeks ago, the venue pulled out.”

It’s frustrating, as Statfold Barn Festival, nor Brindley, got the chance they deserved to put the event on the map. Instead, not one to rest, Brindley is concentrating all his efforts on Beyond Festival, a new event which will take place in Leicester’s Abbey Park on June 25.

Brindley, owner and director of Beyond Festival, is excited about his new venture, launched alongside fellow partners Scott Cook, Rae Hardy and Jack Meldrum.

“It’s been a coming together of minds,” Brindley comments. “We identified a gap in the market for a festival in Leicester city centre. Manchester, Sheffield, London, Birmingham; they all have amazing urban festivals, but there’s nothing in Leicester.”

BIG PLANS

Brindley has a good relationship with Leicester City Council. Conversations about Beyond started pre-COVID, but COVID killed the vibe. The conversation was picked back up, post-lockdown, and now the council is incredibly supportive of Beyond; a 10,000 strong, one-day festival that has big plans for the city centre.

Brindley continues: “Abbey Park has a central lake, and the festival will eclipse the lake and wrap around it. Our motivation is all about getting to year two. In year two, we have plans to increase capacity to 25,000 people, take over the whole of the park, and add a couple of stages. And we might add a dance proms concert to the format on the Friday night, as I tour a 50-piece orchestra.”

SPENDING WISELY

Beyond Festival’s footprint will take up a third of the park in 2022. There are plans to create spin-offs and grow the brand in other areas, creating revenue streams that would support the festival in the summer. This business model, coupled with the festival team’s experience, means that it can put on a lean production, a show without much wastage.

PAUL BRINDLEY

“The trick and skill will be knowing where to spend wisely,” Brindley comments. “We will have to have strict control over costs. Everything is going to be a challenge this year. Infrastructure and production costs will increase. Artist fees have increased. Eventually, organisers will have to increase prices.”

Brindley concludes: “Costs are up – logistics, fuel, and transport. It’s going to be a difficult time for organisers, promoters, and everyone in the industry. But Beyond Festival will stand out because it’s a long-awaited festival.”