Foundation Events ECC Celebrates the Success of Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience in the United States
[Burke, VA] – Foundation Events ECC (foundationeventsecc.org) proudly marks the end of an enchanting, nearly year-long journey as we conclude our role as the US Event Management Team with the unforgettable live event, Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience. We express our deepest gratitude for having been chosen as the event management team responsible for bringing the magic of the Wizarding World to life in the United States.
Our team is overjoyed to reflect on the resounding success of hosting the first two Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience events at Leesburg, Virginia’s Morven Park and Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park in Yorktown Heights, NY. Throughout this extraordinary adventure, we have had the privilege of collaborating with a remarkably talented group of internationally-renowned professionals, working alongside esteemed organizations, including: Tait Towers; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Solotech, Mark K. Morrison Landscape Architects; CrowdRx; The Lignin Group; Aggreko; Party Line Rentals; Westchester County Tourism and Film; Best Beverage; and Cryptic Industries, to name just a few.
Transforming austere sites in Virginia and New York into thriving and immersive self-contained event experiences was our primary objective throughout this engagement. By transforming unused or underused trail segments and wooded areas at both sites through a combination of trail building, trail rehabilitation, construction, and other efforts, the many on-site teams laid the foundation for the integration of complex lighting elements, projection effects, specially-designed animatronics, and unique custom props that would successfully bring to life beloved scenes from the Wizarding World universes of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts. It has been a joy to witness the delight on the faces of guests of all ages as they stepped into these enchanting event experiences.
Over the course of nearly a year, our team has worked side by side with the most talented individuals and leading specialty companies, focused on building and activating each event site and, wherever possible, promoting local employment, economic development, and tourism. We have collaborated with hundreds of contractors to prepare each site, manage the months-long events, and coordinate the teardown and post-event restoration of each site. Working together, we built enchanting trails, installed power generation and distribution capacity across vast outdoor sites, developed “legacy” leave-behinds for each venue and community like boardwalks, trails, and water distribution infrastructure, and worked with phenomenal specialty teams to meticulously dress and maintain scenes and touchpoints across each site.
We are incredibly grateful for the invaluable support provided by outstanding local and national companies that contributed their enthusiasm and expertise in food and beverage services, bathroom facilities and sanitation services, traffic and parking management, law enforcement and emergency medical services, temporary structure and heavy equipment rentals, lumber mills, and more.
As we reach this milestone, we wholeheartedly express our sincere appreciation for the connections we have forged, the friendships we have nurtured, and the opportunity to create lifelong memories for hundreds of thousands of guests. It has been a privilege to witness families and friends come together, immersing themselves in the wonders of the Wizarding World, and leaving with cherished moments to treasure forever.
At Foundation Events ECC, we look forward to future collaborations with organizations that hold exciting intellectual property licenses who can envision the exciting possibilities in transforming owned or licensed intellectual property into experiential live events. Our commitment remains steadfast in creating live event experiences that captivate audiences, deliver extraordinary outcomes for event owners, and drive remarkable economic development and community growth in and around the cities in which we are privileged to work.
As we bid farewell to Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who made this journey possible. Together, we have redefined the boundaries of imagination and created an extraordinary legacy that will continue to inspire and enchant for generations to come.
About Foundation Events ECC
Foundation Events ECC (FoundationEventsECC.org) is a leading event design, production, and management consultancy located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. As a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Foundation Events ECC: develops innovative events and experiences that support exceptional quality of life at the local level; empowers community-focused organizations to achieve business, engagement, and mission goals; and drives sustainable economic development in communities throughout the United States. Foundation Events ECC develops and produces its own events and experiences as well as providing consulting, production, and professional development opportunities to events-producing organizations across the nation. For more information about Foundation Events ECC, their EVENTS 101 professional development program, and other services they provide, please visit FoundationEventsECC.org.
