An immersive Harry Potter experience lands in Montreal next month & guests get an actual wand

If you've ever wanted to wave a wand around and feel like a student at Hogwarts, Montreal's about to give you that chance.

Harry Potter: Visions of Magic is opening at Place Bonaventure on March 27, and unlike most exhibitions where you simply look at items behind glass, this one allows you to interact with nearly everything.

The concept is simple: Guests will walk through eight different environments from the Harry Potter universe, and your wand is what brings them to life. Wave it at certain spots, and you'll reveal hidden images, unlock secrets, or trigger magical effects throughout each room.

What's actually inside

The experience kicks off with the Knight Bus. For fans of the franchise, that's the purple triple-decker that squeezes through London traffic. You can climb into the bunks for photos before heading to 12 Grimmauld Place, where your wand lets you mess around with the Black family tree and a glowing fireplace.

From there, things get progressively weirder. There's Newt's Menagerie, which crams a bunch of fantastic beasts into a single suitcase. The Hall of Prophecy is a mirrored room filled with glowing orbs that whisper predictions when you interact with them. And Knockturn Alley brings the sketchy, shadowy vibes you'd expect from the wizarding world's most questionable shopping district.

The whole thing wraps up in The Pensieve — a 360-degree room where you're basically swimming through Harry's memories.

Yes, there's Butterbeer

Before you leave, you can hit up the official merchandise shop for exclusive Harry Potter products and collectibles. And yes, glasses of mythical Butterbeer will be available.

For those who haven't tried it, Butterbeer, often served at Universal theme parks, is a non-alcoholic beverage characterized by a sweet, butterscotch-and-cream-soda flavour with a frothy, whipped topping.

Getting tickets

The waitlist is already open at harrypottervisionsofmagic.com, which gets you early access to tickets before they go on sale to everyone else on February 17.

The experience is designed for fans of all ages — whether you're a die-hard who's read the books seventeen times, introducing your kids to the wizarding world for the first time, or just curious to see what the hype is about.

This marks the first time the exhibition has come to Canada. It's been running in Singapore and is produced by Warner Bros. Discovery, NEON, and Montreal's own EMM Williams Productions.

The exhibition will be open Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting March 27. The venue is wheelchair and stroller accessible, though visitors with sensory sensitivities should note the experience includes ambient music, flashing lights, fog effects, motion-activated sounds and videos, plus other multimedia elements.