{"id":899194,"date":"2026-09-17T13:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/899194\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T13:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:08:14","slug":"harry-potter-drone-show-will-bring-a-magical-open-air-spectacle-to-canadian-cities-starting-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/899194\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Potter drone show will bring a magical open-air spectacle to Canadian cities starting this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

On each night of the show, a swarm of 1,200 synchronized drones take flight with choreography set to the soundtrack and dialogue from the eight Harry Potter films.DroneArt Show: Harry Potter\/Supplied<\/p>\n

If the skies around major Canadian cities look a little brighter this month, it\u2019s not a magic trick. It\u2019s the debut of DroneArt Show: Harry Potter, an open-air spectacle that will use drones instead of fireworks to celebrate 25 years of the boy wizard and his famous friends. <\/p>\n

The inaugural experience is a collaboration between live-entertainment tech platform Fever, Warner Bros. and Nova Sky Stories, with stops in both Edmonton and Montreal on Sept. 18 and 19, and in Toronto on Sept. 25 and 26. The show debuted at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles this past June, with subsequent stops across the United States and Europe. Tickets are available online.<\/p>\n

On each night of the show, a swarm of 1,200 synchronized drones take flight with choreography set to the soundtrack and dialogue from the eight Harry Potter films. A live violinist, selected from each city by Fever\u2019s global music curation team, performs as the drones ebb and flow, and guests will sport synchronized LED wristbands that add to the overall magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry Potter is one of the most ambitious projects we\u2019ve been able to bring to Canada,\u201d said Annie-Lou St-Amant, the regional manager for Fever Originals Canada. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the largest drone shows that exist in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hour-long show is pre-programmed with specialized software and GPS systems that allow the drones to stick to precise flightpaths that create the three-dimensional choreography and aerial formations. It launches with a single command as a team of trained operators supervise positioning, battery levels and overall quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is what allows hundreds of drones to move in harmony together,\u201d Ms. St-Amant added. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The inaugural experience is a collaboration between live-entertainment tech platform Fever, Warner Bros. and Nova Sky Stories, with stops in Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto.DroneArt Show: Harry Potter\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Finding the venues to host a spectacle of this level posed a challenge. In Edmonton, the show takes place at the Exhibition Lands racetrack. Montreal hosts it at Quai Jacques-Cartier, and Toronto has set aside space at YZD, the former Downsview Airport. <\/p>\n

As with any outdoor show, the Harry Potter drone experience is subject to weather conditions. Rain and winds not only have an impact on the audience, but on the main performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drones can only fly above a certain temperature, otherwise the batteries drain too fast,\u201d said Ms. St-Amant. \u201cThat\u2019s why in Canada we prioritize summer times. It also has to be dark outside, so the timing of the show is really important.\u201d <\/p>\n

This November marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone, the first film based on J.K. Rowling\u2019s books. The movie has grossed more than US$1.02-billion worldwide over its lifetime at the box office and has made a household name out of its star, Daniel Radcliffe. <\/p>\n

Recently, Cineplex re-released all eight films in the series in select theatres across Canada to commemorate the anniversary. There have also been several special events at Universal theme parks, studio tours in London and Tokyo, and a slew of special merchandise and collectibles popping up at various retailers. <\/p>\n

Potterheads, as fans call themselves, are especially interested in the upcoming TV series that is set to launch on HBO (and Crave in Canada) on Christmas Day. Dominic McLaughlin stars as the title character alongside Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. <\/p>\n

Other cast members include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy and Kit Harington as Gilderoy Lockhart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: On each night of the show, a swarm of 1,200 synchronized drones take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,75,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-899194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-entertainment","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}