Tickets for Celebration Europe Go On Sale This Thursday! Hotel Block Open Now!

 

Well I didn't expect this so quickly! On Sunday Lucasfilm's Chris Argyropoulos announced that we could expect some Star Wars Celebration news this week. Then yesterday the official site was updated as social media channels announced that tickets for Celebration Europe 2023 would go on sale this week!!

I expected an on sale date but the this week part definitely caught me off guard!

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday at 12pm ET / 5PM BST.

4-Day Adult tickets will cost £159 plus VAT (20%) and a £3.25 service fee. Total £194.05

Single Day Adult tickets will cost £65 plus VAT and service fee. Total £81.25

4 Day Kids tickets (for children aged 6-12) will cost £61 plus VAT and service fee. Total £76.45

Single Day Kids tickets will cost £33 plus VAT and service fee. Total £42.85

In addition to standard tickets, there will be a limited number of Jedi Master tickets. These will cost £795 plus VAT and service fee (Total £957.25). These tickets normally go faster than the Millennium Falcon on the Kessel Run but if the Force is with you and you manage to snag one it will include:

• Half hour Early Entry (9:30am) to the Exhibit Hall and VIP Lounge
• Guaranteed admission to all panels on the Celebration Stage (must arrive 30 minutes prior to panel)
• One exclusive VIP talent meet & greet
• Celebration Store Private Shopper - one time redemption (Onsite or Pre-Show)
• Designated VIP line for Celebration Store
• Designated VIP line for autographs and photo ops
• VIP Lounge with complimentary coat check, concierge, and charging stations
• VIP only exclusive holo badge
• VIP only exclusive special enamel pin
• VIP only exclusive lanyard
• VIP only exclusive show patch
• Complimentary Star Wars Celebration branded re-usable water bottle
• Official show poster with tube
• Official Star Wars Celebration 2023 Commemorative Guide

Interestingly the FAQ page on the official site currently mentions the return of panel reservations but not lotteries. It could simply be that lottery information will be added later, but since the panel reservations answer basically says "check back early 2023" it seems strange they would not do the same for lotteries. Given that European Celebrations are (historically) smaller events, it may be that they are going with the panel reservations/standby line combo for all 3 main stages next year. Time will tell but that would certainly take some of the sting out of missing out on/not being able to afford Jedi Master badges if they go that route.

As always, a selection of merchandise will be available to pre-order when you book your tickets. No details on what will be available until the day but expect a pre-order exclusive pin and likely a range of key art and Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary merch.

Jedi Master tickets will sell out immediately. Beyond that it's hard to say what this ticket sale will be like. Anaheim 4-Day passes sold out in two hours in 2019 but were easier to get when they went on resale in 2022. They were around for weeks (maybe months) before selling out in 2016 but a lot has changed since then (for Star Wars, UK conventions, and the world in general) so it's hard to speculate how things will go. All I can recommend is if you know you want to go, it's always safer to buy sooner than later.

In addition to the ticket information, ReedPop quietly opened up the official hotel block ahead of the ticket sale. No tweet, no announcement. Just a link in the FAQ.

And YIKES! I can see why they buried it. The prices are absolutely horrendous.

The rates through the hotel block are usually cheaper as ReedPop buys them at group rates and passes on the discount. Not so this year. The Holiday Inn Express through the block costs £800 more than I was able to book the connected Aloft for directly when dates were first announced last month. I even found one room left on the Holiday Inn's own website that cost over £100 per night less than the block rate. The Sunborn Yacht is still showing as available for direct booking (with cheaper rates for mobile booking), is literally right outside the front door, and is cheaper than pretty much all block hotels at this point!

If you want to stay on site I'd advise booking a cancellable/refundable room and keep checking prices directly in case something cheaper opens up. More than that though, I'd advise looking along the underground routes and booking a hotel a short tube ride away. It's Easter weekend in London so it won't be cheap, but these prices are just obscene and I can't in good faith recommend them as value for money.

Hope to see you in London!