Monday 26th June marks 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published by Bloomsbury, so to celebrate the occasion the publishing house decided to organise a Guinness World Records title attempt in Bolton, UK.
 
Choosing to challenge the Largest gathering of people dressed as Harry Potter, Bloomsbury invited local kids to come to the town hall wearing the Hogwards school uniform, glasses, a wand and a fake scar and become official record holders.
 
Largest gathering of people dressed as Harry Potter Bolton 
The attempt was organised in partnership with Bolton Museum and Library Services and 11 primary schools across Bolton and saw an incredible 676 kids take part.
 
 
Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Sofia Greenacre was on hand to count and verify the record and commented that the children had a lot of fun in spite of the bad weather on the day.
 
Ian Lamb, Head of Children’s Marketing and Publicity at Bloomsbury was thrilled with the event’s success:
What a fantastic way to celebrate such an iconic book. To bring the record directly back to young readers is the perfect way to mark this very special occasion.
Bloomsbury also wanted to use the Guinness World Records attempt to promote literacy, so they sent each participant home with a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
 
Previously the largest gathering of people dressed as J. K. Rowling's famous wizard was 521, achieved by Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex, UK, back in 2015.