Global events, 20th anniversary screenings, and digital surprises await…
LONDON, July 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Wizards, witches and Muggles - wands at the ready! The countdown to Back to Hogwarts has begun, and this year's festivities are set to be more magical than ever!
Every 1st September, Harry Potter fans mark the iconic return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, nearly almost a quarter of a century since the first film enchanted audiences, this beloved tradition has grown into an annual global celebration of all things Harry Potter.
20 Years of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Celebrate two decades of Triwizard Tournament thrills with special Back to Hogwarts screenings of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in cinemas worldwide. In the United States, fans can relive the epic adventure on the big screen for a limited time through the Back to Hogwarts official ticketing partner – Fandango.com – and have a chance to get their hands on magical Harry Potter giveaways as part of the celebrations. Theatres in Canada, EMEA and International Territories will all be joining in the fun – check local listings and https://www.harrypotter.com/news/how-were-celebrating-back-to-hogwarts-2025 for details.
Magic Meets Snapchat
Introducing four brand new 3D Harry Potter Bitmoji Lenses with Friends! From mid-Aug in honour of Back to Hogwarts, Snap users globally will be able to see their Snapchat Bitmoji (decked out in the latest Back to Hogwarts themed fashion drop, naturally) take a trip into the wizarding world!
Watch as your Bitmoji interacts with your friends' Bitmojis in four different iconic Harry Potter scenes – Hogwarts Letters at the Dursleys', Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Putting names into the Goblet of Fire, and the Wizard Chess scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Global Fan Festivities
Back to Hogwarts celebrations are happening everywhere and this year's revelries are sure to make memories worthy of Dumbledore's Pensieve! Look out for celebratory Back to Hogwarts themed moments at Harry Potter destinations around the world – including park lands at Universal Destinations & Experiences, Warner Bros. Studio Tours, and various Harry Potter travelling experience locations globally.
So, whether you're in London, Paris, Tokyo or joining in online, there's something spellbinding for everyone…
United Kingdom
- Fans can attend a free screening of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at London's iconic Cineworld Leicester Square on 31st Aug.
- Before the film, ticket holders will enjoy a live Q&A with James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), hosted by TV and radio presenter, Yinka Bokinni, plus enjoy fun in the foyer with photo ops – including The Great Hall from Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – the Making of Harry Potter.
- Fans are encouraged to attend in their finest wizarding attire for the chance to win prizes from The LEGO Group and The Noble Collection.
- All attendees will also receive a Wizarding World, Micro Magical Moments Year 4 Collectible Figure Set from Spinmaster.
- Tickets are free, strictly limited and essential for entry, keep an eye on www.harrypotter.com for news on when these will be released.
- Wizarding Wednesdays returns between 13th Aug and 23rd Sept with prizes galore, keep an eye out on the Harry Potter social channels to find out more info.
- Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – the Making of Harry Potter will host 300 lucky guests at a celebratory 11am countdown moment at the Studio Tour, held on the platform next to the iconic Hogwarts Express live on 1st Sept. Tickets are exclusively available by entering a competition to win, visit @wbtourlondon for more details on how to enter before the competition closes on 11th Aug.
- Visitors to the London Platform 9 ¾ shop can pose with a special photo opportunity frame and pick up exclusive Back to Hogwarts merchandise instore, available from 28th July.
- House of MinaLima also invites fans to join a special meet and greet event on the 31st of Aug where they can get their hands on a limited-edition giveaway Back to Hogwarts 2025 button badge (while supplies last). Visit minalima.com/whats-on for more info.
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child London will be giving out special badges to all audience members at performances between 3rd and 7th Sept.
- Fans are reminded that there will be no event, countdown or train announcement at King's Cross Station on 1st Sept. – and are strongly advised not to travel in order to avoid disappointment.
North America & Canada
- Visitors heading to Harry Potter StoreNew York and Harry Potter Store Chicago can pick up exclusive, time-limited Back to Hogwarts merch in store from 28th July.
- Starting today, fans eager to attend the popular Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience will be able to sign up for early waitlist confirmation as the experience is confirmed to take place in Chicago later this year – check out www.hpforbiddenforestexperience.com for more info.
- Fans in Salt Lake City, Utah can take advantage of a special ticket offer available on 1st Sept at Harry Potter: The Exhibition.
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway will be celebrating '19 Years Later' with $19 tickets for select performances this autumn. This special priced ticket will be available for one day only on 1st Sept, online at harrypotterbroadway.com or at the Lyric Theatre Box Office.
France
- Paris, 30th Aug: The stunning Sainte-Geneviève Library will transform into a magical 'school exam' inspired free ticketed event with interactive quizzes, a special Harry Potter themed dictation session read by Solange Boulanger (the French language actor who dubbed Dolores Umbridge in the film series). The LEGO Group and Haribo displays, and more surprises will be announced during the summer. For fans unable to make it on the day, the fun will be hosted online from 30th Aug until 7th Sept. Details are soon to be released on how fans can join online, via the French HP and Warner FR social channels.
Germany
- Hamburg, 29 Aug, 30th Aug & 1 Sept: Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier will play host to a spectacular three-day Back to Hogwarts event, offering fans of all ages specially themed interactive activities and magical give-aways from partners including Thalia, The LEGO Group, Haribo and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
- Nationwide, mid Aug until mid Sept: Stop by Thalia this summer, where 10 stores across Germany will be celebrating Back to Hogwarts. Visitors can enjoy fun photo opportunities, themed activities, prize-draws and special Harry Potter displays before shopping an exclusive themed range and discovering magical 'back to school' promotions. More details here https://thalia.de/themenwelten/harry-potter/back-to-hogwarts/tour
- 29th Aug & 5th Sept: Wizards and witches also have the opportunity to attend one of four special Back to Hogwarts themed sleepover events held at Thalia stores in Dusseldorf, Hannover, Leipzig and Hamburg. Lucky attendees can look forward to magical activities and take home an exclusive goody bag. Check out https://thalia.de/themenwelten/harry-potter/back-to-hogwarts for details on how to apply for free tickets.
- Hamburg, 31st Aug: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will host a special Back to Hogwarts Show to celebrate the start of a new school year. Full details here: https://www.atgtickets.de/musicals-shows/harry-potter-und-das-verwunschene-kind/back-to-hogwarts/
Italy
- Milan, 1st Sept: Fans can register to join a spectacular free Back to Hogwarts event, held at Teatro Nazionale. The beautiful space will be entirely themed and transformed into a magical venue for the celebrations. Look forward to an 11'o'clock countdown, interactive games, quizzes, special performances, plus surprise guests! To learn more and register, visit www.backtohogwartsmilano.it.
Spain
- Madrid, 31st Aug & 1st Sept: Fans are invited to a special two-day event at a stunning yet-to-be-revealed location. Get ready for plenty of magical fun, including Back to Hogwarts and Harry Potter themed photo opportunities, an interactive 11 o'clock countdown, and much more. Further details will be announced soon.
Japan
- Tokyo, 29th Aug – 31st Aug: Baseball fans attending Saitama Seibu Lions games can look forward to a special Back to Hogwarts collaboration with Harry Potter x Lions. Fans can get their hands on bespoke products and visitors on the 29th will also be able to watch as a cast member from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child makes the ceremonial pitch!
China
- Shanghai: 7th Aug – 10th Aug: In honour of Back to Hogwarts season, fans will be able to enjoy both Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert.
- Hangzhou: 30th Aug – 1st Sept: Look forward to a special Back to Hogwarts celebration in Hangzhou's West Lake District. Expect celebratory photo opportunities, a first glimpse at brand new products and a host of magical fun.
- Find out more by visiting the official Harry Potter Chinese social channel.
Singapore
- Visitors to Harry Potter: Visions of Magic with a valid ticket, arriving dressed in their favourite house attire have the chance to win complimentary gifts with other surprises on site.
Australia
Online
- Don't miss the Back to Hogwarts Showcase at 10:40 BST / 05:40 ET, which will be available on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Expect news, updates and announcements for the year ahead.
There are more Back to Hogwarts activities and events yet to be announced, visit www.harrypotter.com to stay up to date, get Sorted into your Hogwarts house, and join the Harry Potter Fan Club.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Harry Potter 'Back to Hogwarts' 2025 Celebrations Revealed
|
- Innovative technologies enable retailers to implement intelligent stores at scale to deliver smarter, more responsive shopping experiences
- Industry partners to display production-ready AI solutions for loss prevention, digital twins, AI agents, customer analytics, and more
SAN JOSE, Calif. and NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail's Big Show -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, today announced collaboration with technology partners for AI-powered intelligent in-store retail solutions designed to meet increasing customer expectations with scalability, improved productivity and increased profitability.
"AI is reshaping shopping experiences, enabling real-time analysis of video and other data to give retailers actionable insights to optimizing staff efficiency, reducing shrinkage, increasing profits, and avoiding stock-outs," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "By combining Supermicro's complete and scalable AI platforms with NVIDIA RTX PRO accelerated computing solutions, we're enabling retailers to build intelligent stores that maximize the benefits of AI-driven applications."
According to the latest NVIDIA State of AI in Retail & CPG report, 89% of respondents reported that AI is helping to increase annual revenue, while 95% said it is helping decrease annual costs, highlighting the measurable business impact retailers are already achieving because of AI1.
For more information, please visit https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/edge/servers
Supermicro Complete and Scalable Edge AI Infrastructure
Retail-centric AI applications require sub-second responsiveness which is only possible, at scale, if data is processed directly at the edge. Supermicro's Edge AI infrastructure enables the deployment of solutions in distributed environments, such as intelligent retail stores and supply chains, to provide a complete solution.
Deploying at the edge presents a myriad of unique challenges in comparison to the data center. Supermicro's broad Edge AI portfolio of products helps customers and partners overcome these challenges while striking the right balance between performance and ROI.
For deployments in harsh environments where conditioned space is not available, the fanless E103 series of products bring AI processing power where it couldn't go before. Supermicro also offers a fanned small form factor E300 series systems with AI capabilities.
When there is a demanding AI workload at the edge, customers and partners can turn to numerous systems capable of holding the latest discrete GPUs for AI acceleration. Ranging from 1U short-depth to larger 4U form factors, solutions can be right-sized to meet the customer's needs by enabling the latest generation of NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell series.
Supermicro Intelligent Store Partners
Supermicro is collaborating with ecosystem partners including Everseen, Kinetic Vision, ALLSIDES, LiveX, WobotAI, and Aible, to create intelligent stores that positively impact day-to-day retail operations as well as longer term supply chain management.
- Everseen's Evercheck solution uses Vision AI to help reduce shrink and improve staff productivity and customer experiences. Built on the Everseen Vision AI platform, Evercheck detects, and deters recovery of unwanted behaviors at checkout, helping retailers recover losses and streamline front-of-store operations.
"Everseen has spent years working alongside some of the world's largest retailers, understanding the realities of the store floor and solving loss challenges where they actually happen," said Joe White, CEO of Everseen. "By partnering with Supermicro and leveraging NVIDIA-accelerated computing, Evercheck delivers real-time computer vision at the edge - transforming store activity into intelligence retailers can act on immediately."
- Wobot AI, focused on building Video AI Agents for the physical world, will be demonstrating how the cameras retailers already own can be turned into systems that continuously observe, learn, and produce usable insight. By converting ordinary CCTV infrastructure into autonomous agents that recognize patterns, identify friction, and surface decisions, Wobot's AI Agents enable retailers to improve day-to-day operations with practical and measurable outcomes.
"By working with Supermicro and NVIDIA at the edge, we're able to deploy Video AI Agents in a way that's scalable, reliable, and focused on real-time operational insight—not experimentation," said Will Kelso, President, Revenue & Growth at Wobot AI.
- LiveX AI - "Retail is entering an era where AI agents become the default interaction layer between brands and customers," said Jerry Li, Co-Founder and CEO of LiveX AI. "With NVIDIA's accelerated AI and Supermicro's edge infrastructure, we can deploy a helpful, human-like AI agent directly in physical spaces—such as kiosks or holograms—bringing the speed, intelligence, and continuity of digital experiences into brick-and-mortar environments. This collaboration makes AI agents usable, in real time, where customers actually are."
-
- Kinetic Vision and ALLSIDES are bundling their expertise for a True Digital Twin solution designed to develop, test, and optimize supply chain processes, checkout stations, and other complex systems.
"The combination of Supermicro's high reliability optimized infrastructure and NVIDIA's accelerated computing stack gives Kinetic Vision the foundation to innovate at speed. Together, we are helping retailers move from experimentation to production-ready AI solutions that drive measurable operational and customer experience gains," says Jeremy Jarratt, Kinetic Vision CEO.
Franz Tschimben, CEO at ALLSIDES, adds: "Building on the combined strengths of NVIDIA and Supermicro, we deliver a high-fidelity 3D digital twin data layer for AI training that enables retailers to power applications across the entire retail value chain — from training robots with physical AI, to production and production planning, virtual store layouts and consumer feedback systems, and e-commerce integrations — helping drive higher conversion rates, faster decision-making, and greater operational efficiency."
- Supermicro will also feature Superb AI's retail-focused VSS solution, combining Superb AI's proprietary VLM with NVIDIA AI Blueprint components to enable subjective reasoning capabilities, natural-language search, automated incident summarization, and customer behavior insights across store camera networks.
- Aible will highlight its automated agent solution, which analyzes vast amounts of data across millions of patterns to explain changes in retail KPIs, such as the average purchase amount or number of purchases. Aible will also demonstrate how the latest NVIDIA Retail blueprints can be incorporated into agentic solutions that automatically customize customer experiences and optimize retail operations at scale.
Arijit Sengupta, CEO of Aible, adds, "Today's market and labor conditions are constantly changing. Only autonomous agents can understand and adjust to these ever-changing patterns of customer behavior, inventory costs and supply, and labor access at scale. Working with NVIDIA and Supermicro, Aible brings autonomous agents subject to business user review to the retail edge."
These intelligent retail solutions will be demonstrated by Supermicro and its partners at NRF: Retail's Big Show in New York City from January 11-13. To learn more about AI-powered retail applications or Supermicro's AI Infrastructure solutions, visit Supermicro booth #5281 and attend its speaking session featuring PepsiCo and Kinetic Vision. For more details, please visit www.supermicro.com/NRF
1Source: "NVIDIA State of AI in Retail and CPG" 2026
About Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first to market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro's motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Asia, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling).
Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.
All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
- Innovative technologies enable retailers to implement intelligent stores at scale to deliver smarter, more responsive shopping experiences
- Industry partners to display production-ready AI solutions for loss prevention, digital twins, AI agents, customer analytics, and more
SAN JOSE, Calif. and NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail's Big Show -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, today announced collaboration with technology partners for AI-powered intelligent in-store retail solutions designed to meet increasing customer expectations with scalability, improved productivity and increased profitability.
"AI is reshaping shopping experiences, enabling real-time analysis of video and other data to give retailers actionable insights to optimizing staff efficiency, reducing shrinkage, increasing profits, and avoiding stock-outs," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "By combining Supermicro's complete and scalable AI platforms with NVIDIA RTX PRO accelerated computing solutions, we're enabling retailers to build intelligent stores that maximize the benefits of AI-driven applications."
According to the latest NVIDIA State of AI in Retail & CPG report, 89% of respondents reported that AI is helping to increase annual revenue, while 95% said it is helping decrease annual costs, highlighting the measurable business impact retailers are already achieving because of AI1.
For more information, please visit https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/edge/servers
Supermicro Complete and Scalable Edge AI Infrastructure
Retail-centric AI applications require sub-second responsiveness which is only possible, at scale, if data is processed directly at the edge. Supermicro's Edge AI infrastructure enables the deployment of solutions in distributed environments, such as intelligent retail stores and supply chains, to provide a complete solution.
Deploying at the edge presents a myriad of unique challenges in comparison to the data center. Supermicro's broad Edge AI portfolio of products helps customers and partners overcome these challenges while striking the right balance between performance and ROI.
For deployments in harsh environments where conditioned space is not available, the fanless E103 series of products bring AI processing power where it couldn't go before. Supermicro also offers a fanned small form factor E300 series systems with AI capabilities.
When there is a demanding AI workload at the edge, customers and partners can turn to numerous systems capable of holding the latest discrete GPUs for AI acceleration. Ranging from 1U short-depth to larger 4U form factors, solutions can be right-sized to meet the customer's needs by enabling the latest generation of NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell series.
Supermicro Intelligent Store Partners
Supermicro is collaborating with ecosystem partners including Everseen, Kinetic Vision, ALLSIDES, LiveX, WobotAI, and Aible, to create intelligent stores that positively impact day-to-day retail operations as well as longer term supply chain management.
- Everseen's Evercheck solution uses Vision AI to help reduce shrink and improve staff productivity and customer experiences. Built on the Everseen Vision AI platform, Evercheck detects, and deters recovery of unwanted behaviors at checkout, helping retailers recover losses and streamline front-of-store operations.
"Everseen has spent years working alongside some of the world's largest retailers, understanding the realities of the store floor and solving loss challenges where they actually happen," said Joe White, CEO of Everseen. "By partnering with Supermicro and leveraging NVIDIA-accelerated computing, Evercheck delivers real-time computer vision at the edge - transforming store activity into intelligence retailers can act on immediately."
- Wobot AI, focused on building Video AI Agents for the physical world, will be demonstrating how the cameras retailers already own can be turned into systems that continuously observe, learn, and produce usable insight. By converting ordinary CCTV infrastructure into autonomous agents that recognize patterns, identify friction, and surface decisions, Wobot's AI Agents enable retailers to improve day-to-day operations with practical and measurable outcomes.
"By working with Supermicro and NVIDIA at the edge, we're able to deploy Video AI Agents in a way that's scalable, reliable, and focused on real-time operational insight—not experimentation," said Will Kelso, President, Revenue & Growth at Wobot AI.
- LiveX AI - "Retail is entering an era where AI agents become the default interaction layer between brands and customers," said Jerry Li, Co-Founder and CEO of LiveX AI. "With NVIDIA's accelerated AI and Supermicro's edge infrastructure, we can deploy a helpful, human-like AI agent directly in physical spaces—such as kiosks or holograms—bringing the speed, intelligence, and continuity of digital experiences into brick-and-mortar environments. This collaboration makes AI agents usable, in real time, where customers actually are."
-
- Kinetic Vision and ALLSIDES are bundling their expertise for a True Digital Twin solution designed to develop, test, and optimize supply chain processes, checkout stations, and other complex systems.
"The combination of Supermicro's high reliability optimized infrastructure and NVIDIA's accelerated computing stack gives Kinetic Vision the foundation to innovate at speed. Together, we are helping retailers move from experimentation to production-ready AI solutions that drive measurable operational and customer experience gains," says Jeremy Jarratt, Kinetic Vision CEO.
Franz Tschimben, CEO at ALLSIDES, adds: "Building on the combined strengths of NVIDIA and Supermicro, we deliver a high-fidelity 3D digital twin data layer for AI training that enables retailers to power applications across the entire retail value chain — from training robots with physical AI, to production and production planning, virtual store layouts and consumer feedback systems, and e-commerce integrations — helping drive higher conversion rates, faster decision-making, and greater operational efficiency."
- Supermicro will also feature Superb AI's retail-focused VSS solution, combining Superb AI's proprietary VLM with NVIDIA AI Blueprint components to enable subjective reasoning capabilities, natural-language search, automated incident summarization, and customer behavior insights across store camera networks.
- Aible will highlight its automated agent solution, which analyzes vast amounts of data across millions of patterns to explain changes in retail KPIs, such as the average purchase amount or number of purchases. Aible will also demonstrate how the latest NVIDIA Retail blueprints can be incorporated into agentic solutions that automatically customize customer experiences and optimize retail operations at scale.
Arijit Sengupta, CEO of Aible, adds, "Today's market and labor conditions are constantly changing. Only autonomous agents can understand and adjust to these ever-changing patterns of customer behavior, inventory costs and supply, and labor access at scale. Working with NVIDIA and Supermicro, Aible brings autonomous agents subject to business user review to the retail edge."
These intelligent retail solutions will be demonstrated by Supermicro and its partners at NRF: Retail's Big Show in New York City from January 11-13. To learn more about AI-powered retail applications or Supermicro's AI Infrastructure solutions, visit Supermicro booth #5281 and attend its speaking session featuring PepsiCo and Kinetic Vision. For more details, please visit www.supermicro.com/NRF
1Source: "NVIDIA State of AI in Retail and CPG" 2026
About Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first to market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro's motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Asia, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling).
Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.
All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Supermicro Announces Intelligent In-Store Retail Solutions in Collaboration with a Broad Range of Industry Partners
