Warner Bros Studios Leavesden is one of the proud sponsors of the second annual St Albans Film Festival, taking place from May 1- 4. And, with this year’s theme being birds and flight, there was only special guest they could possibly send.

The grand opening will see St Albans Cathedral turned into an aviary for the night of Thursday, May 1 – and Hedwig from the Harry Potter films will make a dramatic entrance and fly through the abbey to get the festivities off to a very special start.

“I can’t wait to see the real Hedwig flying in to the cathedral,“ says festival founder and director Leoni Kibbey, “it will be amazing.“

Fittingly, the rest of the evening will include a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Another highlight of this year’s festival is the Costume Characterisation workshop, in which experts from Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter will show you how there is no costume without a character. You will have the opportunity to look at original mood boards and costumes from the Harry Potter film series that bring characters to life. This hour-long workshop is open to everyone, but is best suited to those aged seven to 12. The workshop takes place at The Pioneer Club on Saturday, May 3 at 10.45am.

Other events to try and catch are a screening of the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws – in a pool; the RAF Falcons parachute display team freefalling at 120mph into Verulamium Park; and Birds of Bray, where you can meet the unusual Great Grey Owl, the Petite White Faced Scops Owl, and the enchanting American Barn Owl. Of course, there are also numerous film screenings, film-related workshops and the much anticipated short film awards.