To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bloomsbury publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone the British Council is hosting Harry Potter Festival from 15-28 October 2017 for the Harry Potter Fans across Bangladesh. Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry Potter Festival will be hosted in three different phases through five public libraries in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna and Rajshahi as part of its collaboration with Libraries Unlimited which is another British Council Project. Libraries Unlimited is currently being implemented by British Council across Bangladesh in partnership with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and supported by the Department of Public Libraries.
The first phase of the celebration was hosted in Dhaka from 15-19October at the British Council, Dhaka University campus office. Around 2000 Harry Potter fans celebrated the magical eve with an array of activities, like, panel discussion, art competition, treasure hunt, quizzes and games. To connect the Harry Potter fans with an entire magical world of witches and wizards a magic workshop named ‘Wizards Classroom’ was arranged followed by a magic show by the famous magician, Jewel Aich.
The second phase will be hosted at Rajshai on 21 October 2017 and the third phase will take place in Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna on 28 October 2017. Alike Dhaka, the British Council will mark this magical moment with an amazing celebration with different events and activities for the kids, teens and adults across Bangladesh.
This collaborative celebration aims to engage communities using the public library network to build public awareness of and access to library and information services. Harry Potter stories are set in an English background with an imaging plot and translated into about 80 languages, including Bangla.
World literature, English book-lovers and movie-lovers are also enriched by the productions. The stories reflect friendship, love, wit, sarcasm and amazing humour that appealed to children and adults alike. British Council cultural centre intends to encourage these magical attributes through its events and activities. Children of this era have been exposed to the correct modern English creating reading habit among them. The British Council has brought Harry Potter magic into the classrooms.
All the event activities will take place at the divisional public libraries. To join the celebration, one can visit the respective public libraries. The British Council also offers innovative approach to English learning for young learners, starting from the age of 4 to 17 years.
