Celebrating STAR WARS

  I've made it no secret that one of the things I love to do each Celebration is pick up a print from the Art Show. This year, since fans can't go to the Celebration Art Show, the Celebration Art Show is coming to the fans as this year's prints will be on sale to everyone via Dark Ink Art later today! Announced by the official site on Friday, this year's Art Show will feature work by 22 artists inspired by the entire Star Wars  saga from the Original Trilogy to The Bad Batch and if you follow the link you'll be able to read comments from each of them as they discuss the inspiration for their work. This year's artists are Jerry Vanderstelt, Candice Dailey, Kayla Woodside, Danny Haas, Brian Miller, Joe Hogan, Adam Schickling, Asia Ellington, Malcolm Tween, Russell Walks, Katie Cook, Spencer Brinkerhoff, Brian DeGuire, Karen Hallion, Cat Staggs, Dawn Murphy, Erik Maell, Chris Trevas, Lee Kohse, William O'Neill, Corey Galal, and Jeff Carlisle. I have updated th...

  Let's be honest, when the Celebration Store first opened virtually in August it was a bit of a let down with an extremely limited selection of merchandise available. There was also talk of the remaining products being released in waves which would have been a nightmare in shipping costs for fans in the US never mind internationally. Thankfully there seems to have been a bit of a rethink and when the Celebration Store returns tomorrow it will have the FULL RANGE of products that would have been in Anaheim this year. Yes, we're talking everything from the traditional badge art shirts and pin collection to plush tauntaun slippers and mudhorn eggs! Like last time, 2020 badge holders will get an exclusive early access period before the store opens up to all fans worldwide. Early access begins tomorrow  at 12 noon (ET) with standard opening following a week later on November 20th at 12 noon (ET). Ticket holders make sure to watch your emails today as you should be receiving an em...

  Good morning Star Wars  fans! Today would have been the big day. Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. In a perfect world we'd be catching up with old friends whilst lining up for the show floor, the opening panel (almost certainly a 40th anniversary celebration of The Empire Strikes Back ), or maybe the show store. Well, Celebration itself might be delayed until 2022 but the show store is opening tomorrow! Announced last night by the official site , everyone who had tickets to Star Wars Celebration 2020 will be able to access the official Celebration store from midday (ET) on Friday, August 28. Then, from midday on Monday, August 31, the store will be open to everyone. You can head over to Shop.StarWarsCelebration.com right now to browse the initial selection of merchandise and if you had tickets for Anaheim 2020 you should receive an email today giving you instructions on how to log in for early access tomorrow. I've update the 2020 Exclusives page with all the merchandise reve...

We've known for a while that Star Wars Celebration was unlikely to take place in August, now we have official confirmation. In a statement posted to the official Celebration website and the Star Wars Celebration social media channels, ReedPOP officially announced the cancellation of this year's Celebration along with the news that Celebration would return to Anaheim in 2022. The statement in full reads: To our Star Wars Celebration Fans and Friends, At Star Wars Celebration, the health and safety of our fans, attendees, exhibitors, guests and staff is always our number one priority. Due to the global impact of the COVID-19 virus and in speaking with local and state authorities on the latest public health guidelines related to indoor conventions, we have made the decision to cancel Star Wars Celebration for 2020. Whilst this news is disappointing, we are happy to announce that Star Wars Celebration will return to the Anaheim Convention Centre on ...

Since my last post at the start of March the world has change. That post was one of my updated "Planning Your Trip" pieces I'd been slowly doing since the start of the year. Then Covid-19 hit. With all the uncertainty it didn't feel right to keep those posts going as if nothing had happened but I also didn't want to say Celebration wasn't happening because everything was just so uncertain and up in the air. So I unintentionally put this blog on hold. I'm sorry about that. I should have said something even if it was just my own thoughts on the situation. Now, we have an official statement from ReedPOP. This was sent out by email so I know that some people, myself included, won't have received it as for whatever reason Celebration emails can be hit and miss no matter how many times you sign up and set your spam filters. So here is the statement in full: On the surface this might seem like a bit of a none statement. Essentially just saying ...

Want to meet up with the Star Wars fans who shared their passion with you over the air waves every week? Earlier this month Coffee with Kenobi announced the Podcast Meetup for Celebration Anaheim. And the best news is - it's free! No sign up, no entry fee, no pressure. Just turn up and hang out with your favourite podcasters and fellow Star Wars fans. The event will take place on Friday, August 28th, in the Mix Lounge at the Hilton Anaheim. The meetup begins as soon as the show floor closes at 19:00 and runs "to whenever our Republic credits run out". Hanging out with fellow Star Wars fans sounds like a great way to spend an evening at Star Wars Celebration!

We have our first confirmed author! On Monday Timothy Zahn, the creator of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, took to Facebook to announce that he will be a guest at this year's Star Wars Celebration, writing; "I can now officially announce that I'll be attending Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim this August. I'll expect to see some of you (probably a LOT of you!) there." The author of the recent Thrawn trilogy will no doubt be discussing his upcoming Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy at a Del Rey Books panel during the four day event. Fans will also likely have the plenty of opportunities to meet the author at signings throughout the Celebration. It's a little unexpected that Zahn announced this himself via Facebook, but I expect an official announcement via StarWars.com will follow next month, matching up with when the attending authors were announced for Celebration Chicago. In addition to Timothy Zahn and the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy, I expect ...

Have you ever seen a Stormtrooper go bowling? Me neither, but now's your chance! On Thursday August 27th, the opening day of Star Wars Celebration, the 501st Legion will be hosting a "Bowling with Buckets" Tournament to benefit Make a Wish. Whilst the tournament itself is only open to Legion members ( who can buy tickets here ) all are welcome to spectate and take part in both the social side of the event and the silent and live auctions, which both benefit Make a Wish. Taking place at Bowlmor Anaheim, just a twenty minute walk from the convention center, the tournament will consist of 31 teams of 6 competitors and, yes, costumes and buckets will be worn! Team sign is at 16:00 with bowling starting at 17:00. As the Legion says, "We will be honored if you would join us." Legion members will find more information here , and everyone can enjoy a short promotional video right here . FUNDRAISING AND SILENT/LIVE AUCTION DETAILS: Silent Auction: •Item...

We have our first Guest announcement! Dominic Pace, who played the bounty hunter Gekko in episodes one and three of The Mandalorian , will be appearing at Celebration Anaheim courtesy of the Mandalorian Mercs. Dominic made the announcement on Facebook where he confirmed he will be signing a piece of Lucasfilm approved artwork by Todd Alan Smith with a portion of proceeds going to benefit the causes supported by the Mando Mercs. Based on this announcement I'm assuming that Dominic will be signing at the Mandalorian Mercs' table rather than in the Topps autograph area. With our first guest confirmed Celebration will be here before we know it!

This is the way! The Mando Mercs announced their Star Wars Celebration dinner this week and you can join them! Taking place on Saturday, August 29th, the Mercs Dinner Bash will be hosted at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. Entry to the event costs $100 dollars (with reduced rates for children and official, auxiliary, and supporting members of the Mercs) and includes; Admission to the event Your choice dinner with a choice of four main courses, starter salad, and dessert A cash bar A swag bag full of Mandalorian Merc goodies The option to purchase discounted tickets for Disneyland Silent Auction The festivities begin at 19:00 with doors open from 18:00 so you'll have plenty to time to head back to your room for a quick change or to drop off your merch after a day at Celebration. Those attending the event can even pick up a customized ticket at the Mando Mercs' fan table during Celebration. You can buy tickets now via the Mandalorian Mercs...

What a few months it's been. It's been a little quiet on the old Celebration front over the last few months so this blog has been pretty inactive but yesterday certainly changed that with the announcement of Star Wars Nite at Disneyland for the opening day of Celebration! Over the last few months we've had the final season of Resistance , the first season of The Mandalorian , The Rise of Skywalker has brought the (first) saga to its conclusion, and the final season of The Clone Wars is less than a month away. We're about seven months away from Star Wars Celebration Anaheim and, as yesterday showed, we can probably expect the news to start trickling in now before the floodgates really open in the summer. It was about seven months ahead of Chicago that David Collins and Amy Ratcliffe were announced as the hosts of the Galaxy and Behind the Scenes Stages so hopefully we can expect a similar announcement soon. Over at the official Celebration website application...

The official Star Wars Celebration twitter account was brought out of carbon freeze today with the announcement that new merchandise is now available to pre-order with your Celebration badges. Already got your badges? No worries, you should soon be receiving an email on how you can add merch to your existing order. In previous years you have been able to call and get items added but this announcement makes me think there will be some kind of online add on process available this year which would be fantastic! New merch items are now available for pre-order! Already purchased tickets? Be on the lookout for an e-mail with instructions on how to add pre-order merch to your existing order. Still need to purchase tickets? A limited amount are available! https://t.co/VVVLtcd3Fz #StarWars pic.twitter.com/sWzNhTTSqb — StarWars Celebration (@SW_Celebration) January 23, 2020 I've updated the 2020 Exclusives page with all of the images so far but the 40th Anniversary ...

This is the event you are looking for! And the one you've been waiting for. Originally planned to coincide with Star Wars Celebration 2020, Disneyland After Dark's Star Wars Nite will finally take place this May! Now taking place on three nights, including May 3rd, May 4th (of course!) and the Celebration night of May 27th this galactic spectacular will take place from 21:00 - 01:00 each night and is set to include: Early Admission (your Star Wars Nite tickets allows park access from 18:00) A Star Wars  themed fireworks spectacular Galactic dance parties Character encounters Event themed merchandise and food Event themed backdrops for Disney PhotoPass photographers (PhotoPass included for the event) A souvenir credential and event guide All of Disneyland's Star Wars rides will be open for guests to ride. Including Rise of the Resistance which was not set to be open back in 2020 (though Disney's website does note this will be subject to availability) and you can go in ...

The Lyte Ticket Exchange for Celebration 2020 is now open! So if you missed out on Friday, Saturday, 4-Day, or even Jedi Master VIP badges when the tickets went on sale this is you chance to get your name on the waitlist for any tickets returns. Whilst the odds of getting VIP are slim (but certainly not impossible), you should have an excellent shot at the rest of the badges. You can get request your tickets and get on the list right here; https://lyte.com/starwarscelebration/Star-Wars-Celebration-2020-94365/ May the Force be with you!

Star Wars Celebration Anaheim's record breaking sell out streak continued today as Friday badges are now sold out! Friday tickets join Saturday, 4-Day, and Jedi Master VIP badges as officially sold out. Now the only days available directly from ReedPOP//Star Wars Celebration are Thursday and Sunday. Please do not fall pray to scalpers on eBay. The official Lyte ticket exchange is coming soon. Remember, your lottery entries are link to the email address you bought your badge(s) with. So if you don't buy directly from ReedPOP or Lyte you may not be able to entry for access to the biggest panels and most wanted exclusives of the weekend. According to the official twitter account only "limited amounts of Thursday and Sunday tickets remain". At this Celebration may officially sell out in less than a week!

Well that was fast! The question of whether Chicago's rapid sell out was due to the more central location or a growing demand for Star Wars Celebration was answered beyond any shadow of a doubt on Friday night. Not only did Jedi Master VIP badges sell out within moments of going on sale, but 4-Day badges sold out in less than two hours! And the sell outs didn't stop there! Single day Saturday badges sold out on Friday as well!! This is an absolutely record setting sell out for Star Wars Celebration! I know I said last week that if you wanted to get a 4-Day badge you should buy them on Friday but I had no idea the demand would be this high! I thought maybe a 24 hour sell out if it was demand for Celebration rather than the central location of Chicago that drove sales last year but I never would have imagined a sell out like this. We're rapidly heading towards SDCC territory here! If you missed out, please don't resort to paying the scalpers on eBay! Esp...

With tickets and the official hotel block both going on sale this Friday I thought now would be a good time for a simple guide to how the process ran last year. Scroll to the bottom for an update on this year's hotel sale. TICKETS If you're reading this then you almost certainly know that tickets will go on sale this Friday at 9am PT (which is noon ET and 17:00 in the UK). If you want a 4 day badge then buy them on Friday! Chicago was a game changer for Celebration, with weekend tickets selling out in less than 48 hours. For comparison Celebration Orlando tickets went on sale in May and the 4 day passes didn't sell out until December. At the moment we have no idea if this was due to the more central location opening the event up to more fans or if Celebration has just grown to that size of "must attend" event. We're not at SDCC level sell outs yet, but I would highly recommend buying your tickets on Friday if you want a 4 day badge. If you...

This is where the fun begins (again)! Announced by one of the best Star Wars duos, Andi and Anthony, on a special edition of The Star Wars Show we finally know just when Celebration Anaheim will take place! August 27th-30th. Tickets will go an sale next Friday, June 21st, at 9am PT. That's right, tickets go on sale next week !! But that's not all! The official Star Wars Celebration website also updated with a mountain of additional information so let's break it all down! The Basics Star Wars Celebration will take place at the Anaheim Convention Centre from Thursday August 27th to Sunday August 30th. There is no Bounty Hunter preview day next year. The exhibit hall will be open from 10:00am-7:00pm Thursday to Saturday, and 10:00am-5:00pm on Sunday. Jedi Masters will be allowed early access at 9:30am each day. Panels, screenings, and live events could go on until 10pm or later on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Tickets As mentioned above, tickets...

After an amazing week in Chicago I'm finally home in England. In the near future I'll definitely do a write up about the incredible time I had in the Windy City, but as I recover from jetlag and catch up on all the panels I missed on The Star Wars Show Live stream, I just wanted to say I hope you all had an amazing Celebration. Whether you were in Chicago or there in spirit watching the live streams at home, it was an incredible time to be a Star Wars fan. And next year will be even better because Celebration is returning to Anaheim! Galaxy's Edge!! Batuu here we come! Hope to see you there!