I saw some incredible things at Celebration, the four day Star Wars convention, last month. Some of the best bits were the most simple, fans gathering together on stage and holding lightsabers high, kids who likely weren’t even born when Star Wars returned to cinemas in 2015 dressed up as their favourite characters.
George Lucas never created Star Wars, or the merchandise lines as a social enterprise. That said, it’s far too easy to look at all this as a profit making machine for a parent company. It means a lot to me, I could tell how much it meant to 65,000 other people in the Excel.
‘May the Fourth..’ wasn’t dreamt up in a boardroom, it started out as a simple pun that fans took and made it their own celebration. Years later brands circle around it, eager to be a part of that magic word we talk so much about, community.
Sam, Adam, Dan, James and I celebrated this year by taking on Barefaced Brewing’s Star Wars quiz at their taproom in Blandford. We won, by a country mile, it wasn’t even close.
Liam Toms 