Review: HARRY POTTER: A FORBIDDEN FOREST EXPERIENCE at The Briars Community Forest

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is an enchanting and magical nighttime winter event for the entire family. Well worth an evening drive to the Briars Community Forest on the Mornington Peninsula, this immersive theatrical walking experience will captivate budding witches and wizards of all ages, as well as muggles. With over 100,000 Melburnians already having entered ‘The Forbidden Forest’, and with over 69,000 trees already being donated towards partner One Tree Planted projects, Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is well worth a visit – 5 STARS.

To say I am a Harry Potter fan is an understatement. I was obsessed with the books growing up as a child/teenager. This love of the Wizarding World has continued throughout my adult life and has involved me being committed to rereading and/or listening to the entire seven book/audiobook Harry Potter series at least once every two years.  Furthermore, one of my most memorable travel experiences to date has been entering Diagon Alley at Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and then taking the Hogwarts Express across to Hogsmeade. Yet I never thought it likely that I would get the chance to experience such a unique and immersive wizarding experience again, particularly in Australia. This quickly changed as on a clear but chilly winter evening, I entered Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience.

To be clear, Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is not a theme park. There are no rides. It is instead an interactive outdoor experience that involves 45–75 minutes of walking through an enchanted forest, which is full of magical creatures and theatrical experiences. From the moment you enter the village at the beginning of Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest, I knew that this experience was going to be magical. Not only can you purchase butterbeer in a collectable mug, but you can also buy marshmallows to toast over an open fire - note occupational health and safety regulations do of course still apply, magic does not impact these.  You can also purchase a wand from the gift shop to use throughout your nighttime walk in the “Forbidden Forest”, and which in doing so will allow you to cast spells and unlock unique theatrical experiences along the forest path. While the price of food, beverages and merchandise does come at a premium, these are unique dining and/or interactive experiences that one does not get to indulge in every day.

Originally, I had been hesitant to attend Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience, given some bad publicity that the Event had received around its original location at the Briars Wildlife Sanctuary. This was due to the likely damaging ecological impact the Event would have on the Sanctuary’s native flora and fauna. However, with relocation of the event away from the Briars Wildlife Sanctuary and it instead being held at the Briars Community Forest, an off-leash dog park, it feels like this risk has been adequately managed and mitigated. Furthermore, as trees can be donated for a $3 add on when purchasing tickets, via partner One Tree Planted, it seems that the event organisers of Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience are trying to be as proactive as possible to reduce the ecological impact of the Event. Certainly, attending Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience in a natural setting, does not only add to this unique nighttime experience, it also allows both witches and wizards, and muggles, to fall in love with the magic of nature walking.

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience is on at Briars Community Forest to the end of June and is a magical event not to be missed.

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