The Harry Potter World Premiere
It’s appropriate that it’s Thursday because today we’re throwing it wayyyyy back. To the summer of 2011. I was studying in Austria and decided that I wanted to go to the world premiere of the last Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, in London. And once I decided, there was no going back.
Not only did I fly from Austria and London specifically for the Harry Potter world premiere, but I was also able to finagle myself into the 2nd row and had the BEST day of my life.
This is a long story but boy is it a pretty epic one.
Anyone who knows me, or anyone who doesn’t know me but talks to me for like 10 minutes, knows that I’m a HUGE Harry Potter nerd. I’m talkin’ have read every book at least 3 times, went to every midnight premiere, own every book and DVD, etc. The works. So, its no surprise that I flew my little 19-year-old butt to London alone to sleep outside on a stone fountain in the rain for the premiere of the 8th and (unfortunately) last movie. Yep, that’s right, a slept on the edge of one of the huge stone lion fountains in Trafalgar Square in the cold and rain the night before the premiere. But more on that later. First, let me tell you about the ordeal of getting into the premiere in the first place.
Getting in
I arrived to London and dropped my stuff off at my hostel (which I learned has since closed, which is sad because the location was unbeatable). I packed a bag with some food, a jacket, my camera, etc, and headed to Trafalgar Square, the site of the premiere the next day.
When I arrived on site, there were already hundreds of people there. That’s when I started to worry that all of the wristbands allowing access into the square would be gone already. They had started giving them out the day before on a first come-first serve basis. I mean, this wasn’t just any premiere. This was the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 WORLD PREMIERE. The last Harry Potter movie! So I had expected it to be packed, but I thought I had arrived with plenty of time to get an access wristband. But it became clear very quickly that people had already been there for a WHILE, and wristbands were already going to be few and far between.
I found a security guard with a bright yellow vest and asked about the wristband. He was THE SWEETEST security guard I’ve ever dealt with. He told me that they were all out, but that there was a rumor that they would be giving some out the next morning (the day of the premiere) so a ton of people had formed a line outside the premises of Trafalgar Square in hopes of getting one. My best bet was to do the same. I was noticeably bummed and told him I had come all the way to London just for this.
But I was not giving up hope, not yet!
(I conveniently left out that when I said “all the way” I meant from Austria, so he just assumed I meant from the US because of my accent. Obviously it would have been a much longer journey had I come all the way from the US only to find out it had reached capacity. This detail becomes important later in the story.)
So I go sit down with all the other rejects in line. I had just made friends with the 2 Russian girls sitting in front of me in line when the same security guard and another guard come looking through the line. They spot me and say, “You, come with us.”
I get up and follow them, nervous that I was about to be in trouble or deported or something. While we’re walking around the blocked-off premises to the opposite side, he turns around and looks at me with a smile on his face. All of a sudden, I had a really good feeling that I was somehow about to weasel my way into this thing.
We get to a corner of Trafalgar Square. The corners of the Square were the only places people could enter (with a wristband) or exit. The guards turn to me. The Polish man digs into his pocket and pulls out a bright orange wristband. I swear it was glowing. He said, “I know you came a long way, so we got this for you.” I was speechless. The clasp to fasten it was broken, so he warned me to be careful not to lose it because I wouldn’t be able to get back in without it. I didn’t know what to do besides just thanked them over and over. Then, I walked through heaven’s pearly gates the threshold to enter Trafalgar Square.
Spending the night in Trafalgar Square
After entering, I quickly realized that I was unprepared for the night ahead. People had tents, sleeping bags, lawn chairs, blankets, thick coats with furry hoods, gloves, etc. I had just a backpack with some trail mix, a couple of 100-calorie packs, some water, and a hoodie. But I was too excited to care that I would soon be freezing me arse off.
Since I was alone and didn’t have much with me, I was able to weasel my way to the front, right-hand side of the square, in front of the large fountain. I quickly became friends with 2 guys from Cambridge that were skipping school to be there, and a group of girls from California. We were in this together.
The night was SO long and SO cold. So, so cold. I literally slept on the side of the fountain. I say “slept” but I was only able to take periodic small naps. If I would’ve rolled over I would have ended up IN the fountain. So I just had to lay there on the concrete fountain and try not to move. I was also too cold to sleep and my teeth were chattering. And to top it off, it started to drizzle which made it even colder. The sun finally rose but it didn’t get any warner and rained even more.
The Premiere
After a long, cold, and overall horrendous night, the day of the premiere had finally come. The buzz was electric. I had formed a little friend group with people around me. We would take turns going to the bathroom or getting food.
Fast forward through the lines queues to the bathrooms and the group of young people from Mexico who were trash talking everyone around us (but had no idea that I spoke Spanish and could understand them), and we FINALLY get to 2 hours before the premiere. People were tired, cold, and a little testy. This was the part of the day when people who had gotten their wristbands the day before, had gone home and slept, and had shown up 2 hours before expecting to push their way to the front showed up. Things got a little heated. Everyone felt the wrath of an angry mom who didn’t let anyone through to our area who she didn’t recognize from the night before.
BUT I DIDN’T CARE BECAUSE THE TIME HAD FINALLY COME.
I swear the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun rays shone down JUST as the premiere was starting and the first star was arriving.
All the stars trickled in. They posed for pictures for the press on the red carpet right in front of us. I was 2nd row from the barricade so I could see everything so well! I got so many autographs, pictures, AND I EVEN GOT TO TALK TO EMMA WATSON. She was so emotional and crying. It was so great.
I don’t need to explain the details of the actual premiere because you’ll see them all in the pictures below. But after it was over, a security guard cut a piece of the red carpet for me to have. (I swear the security guards were my best friends that day. I think it was my accent and the fact that I was alone.) Eventually people cleared out and I found the nearest burger placed and ate like I hadn’t eaten in a week. I was famished. Then, I returned to my hostel and passed out for a great nights sleep.
So that’s it! That’s my epic story. I still remember it so clearly because it was a whirlwind of 48 hours. I met some amazing people who I still keep up with today. My framed autographs are still some of my most prized possessions. I’ve never been so happy to have an American accent because it really got to actors’ attentions. And I still consider it one of the best days of my life. Is that lame? Oh well. Check out some pictures below!
It was so hard for me not to post all 200+…
The two photos above were taken by an unknown source that I found online. However, I wanted to include them because they must’ve been taken from someone standing right by me (but with a better camera) because its practically the same view I had!
So there it is – the story of how I had the BEST luck and was able to get into one of the most anticipated movie world premieres ever! I will never, as long as I live, forget this day. Being present for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 World Premiere was a once-in-a-lifetime travel story!
