Museum Makeover – Diagon Alley Style

It seems like there is always a little extra magic around Halloween. This includes spellbinding Harry Potter displays, both inside and out. The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center in Alliance, Nebraska, got a makeover with a life-size exhibit of Diagon Alley that’s on display now until November 7.

This immersive exhibit features Gringotts Bank, complete with a 12 ft dragon on top! There are multiple stores, a medieval castle, and Hogwarts. Guests get a phenomenal experience, with various places for photo opportunities, including an area where you can donate a sock to free an elf with a lifelike representation of Dobby. If you’re a creepy bloke, you might like the creepy shop of Borgin and Burkes that features skulls and the Dark Mark.

Borgin and Burkes shop display at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center (Credit: The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center)

Gringotts Bank display at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center (Credit: The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center)

We hope you brought along your earmuffs, because if the squeals of excitement and joy aren’t enough from the crowd this display is drawing, there are freshly potted baby mandrakes in another one.

Baby mandrakes in a shop front at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center (Credit: The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center)

Visitors think this exhibit is a traveling display or was paid for by the museum; in reality, it was created by a Harry Potter superfan, Kim Galyen, and her husband, Max. The exhibit occupies the foyer of the museum in its entirety and some of the gallery. Galyen double-storied the original exhibit to fill the museum’s space and make the display more lifelike.

This dazzling display included some live characters from the Harry Potter films on October 30–31. We’re sad to have missed our chance to have our future predicted by Professor Trelawney, but you still have a chance to visit this exhibit in November. The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will run this exhibit until November 7. The museum is accepting donations to benefit the Food Pantry, Diaper Depot, Community Table, and Capstone. Will you be making a trip to stroll through Diagon Alley? Let us know and show us your photos!