There are some wonderful celebrations happening all over the place to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Philosopher’s Stone. I know of a few places which are holding events, so have a search and see what’s out there in your area. You never know, there may be a Harry Potter event near you! And if there isn’t, you could always form your own 20th celebrations with a rewatch and a reread of the series, or play any of the Harry Potter themed games that have been created over the years.
In the official scheme of things, for the 20th anniversary Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury have a range of fun things happening. On their website there are games, quote generators, images to download, including a video about the highs and low of Harry Potter, school activities, plus details about an upcoming exhibition at the British library. Bloomsbury has also released gorgeous new editions of Philosopher’s Stone that correspond with the house colours and emblems. Stunning red, yellow, green, and blue covers show off the houses in paperback while striking black hardbacks with the coloured emblems don the covers.
Look how beautiful these are. These are only the first book, heaven help me if they release the rest of them over the years, but I think this is a great way to celebrate 20 wonderful years. According to Bloomsbury, each house’s book has fact files, profiles of favourite characters and line illustrations exclusive to that house. All of which is more reason to own them all in my opinion, but it also means you can cherish your house edition and have a nice copy of book one to treasure for another 20 years. The story itself hasn’t changed, like all editions it is just a new cover, but the additional fun facts are something new and may be of interest to some. This will be my third copy of Philosopher’s Stone and while I have so wonderfully good over the years about not buying new editions, this may be my weak spot because I may just need all eight.
My own plans for this anniversary (aside from spreading the love via blog) include a reread of the series, a movie day to rewatch the series, and if I can find an event or an exhibit nearby I may have to go to that as well. I feel the UK is going to be getting a lot more than we will here, hence my hope that a few libraries or venues plan something grand.
Let me know how you plan to celebrate the 20th anniversary, it may give me some ideas!
You can buy these editions via the following
Lost in a Good Book 