Being one of the oldest and largest fandoms on the planet, at 40th Star Wars Celebrations the fans showed that the Force is still strong with them.
I am not a Star Wars fan. I have not even watched all the films of the franchise. But Iast month, at the 40th Star Wars Celebrations, with nearly 25,000 people from across America and the world arriving to take part in the three-day convention, I allowed the passion and the madness of my surroundings to initiate me into a mini-Star Wars cult.
Sign me up!
I felt one with the the screaming audience when Harrison Ford walked in for the fan convention for the first time in 40 years. I cried with them when the Carrie Fisher tribute played. I queued up to attend Mark Hamill's session for two hours, and had an interesting chat with a 17-year-old balloon seller boy at Disneyland who spend his annual savings to buy a ticket for that talk. I found the love of the fans for this franchise overwhelming, several times over during the three days in Orlando, Florida. I heard stories about couples who met and married at the celebration. Came across people who attended the first ever fan convention forty years ago. Some who have never missed a single Star Wars Celebration. These fans know the meaning of commitment.
The fandom
The three-day event is impressive and an experience of a lifetime. The venue - Orange County Convention Center - is the second largest in the US, offering 7,000,000 sqft of space, spread over four levels. The lower level had hundreds of stalls - selling merchandise, memorabilia, costumes and more. On sale are Star Wars T-shirts, magnets, pen drives in the shape of action figures, Star Wars-themed Lego puzzles and drinks with scaled-down Death Star and Millennium Falcon toys, floating over the ice, with lights inside them! Plus fans get to interact with the actors and makers of the series and buy autographs of cast members in signing booths. And there are slipped spoilers of what you can expect in the coming year and the big event - the trailers. Just remember, in case you confuse this for a party, the three-day event was estimated to bring in $35 million to the area. Tickets were sold for the three-day celebration. Single day and multiple days. Despite this, the fans would queue up for up to 17 hours a day to get into the venue with kids and infants! There is a mile long queue on Day One. A fan I met told me he had been in the queue since last evening and he slept on the concrete floor outside the venue, along with thousands of other fans of all ages. Of course, there are surprises for people who work so hard to get in. In the past, the crew has joined them at 3 am. And this time they were given The Last Jedi T-shirts which were not available to buy anywhere. Little pleasure go a long way.
The Cosplay
What really makes this celebration special, are the fans - walking the halls dressed like R2-D2, C-3PO, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and, of course. Darth Vader. Flashing their lightsabers. One guy spent six months making a thermacol suit inspired by Transformers and a stormtrooper. Some of the other fans I spoke to, spent longer perfecting their costume which they'd created, refined and added to, over the years.
Something for everyone!
A lot of parents come with children and even infants. While the kids get to see their parents become children, there is always the possibility that they don't share their parents' enthusiasm and get bored. And who knows better than Disney how to cater to children? So there were some stages which trained children to become Little Jedis. And races of R2-D2 races, which were equally enjoyed by kids and adults.
Fans get the opportunity to learn about prop and costume construction, about jewellery inspired by the franchise and see a rare items from the archives. Apart from that, there are limited edition name tags and other memorabilia sold only at the venue. There was so much going on, that I downloaded the Star Wars Celebration app to keep up with news about the special guests, panels, cosplay contests, tattoo contests, kids-themed events, props, and shopping. The food court had four stalls - pizza, ice cream, coffee and Chinese food. Clearly food was not a priority here and it's all about fan frenzy. The mood is all about: Keep calm and fan on! And if you missed it, there is another one happening in 2019. Whether you are a fan, or not, I highly recommend it.
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 "Star Wars, Star Wars Celebration, May the fourth be with you, May the 4th be with you, Hollywood, Harrison Ford, Han Solo, Carri")
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