Go to Celebration (Star Wars)

You may have gathered that I am a fan of a certain franchise of films, whether it be from my chosen pseudonym (Pondo), my trusty and faithful dog is called Chewie, my urge to meet an actor who starred in the Holy Trilogy or the fact that my daughter at 4 months old has confirmed that A New Hope is, to this date, the greatest (and only) film she has seen...ever!

I have convinced Clare on numerous occasions to join me on visits to Comic Conventions and Star War Days and, although she may deny it to your face, I know that she has enjoyed them...in part.  Despite her support on these visits I knew that a trip to Anaheim for the largest Star Wars convention on the planet, previously hosted by Lucasfilm, would be completely off the cards due to serious financial implications.

Star Wars Celebration is a fan gathering to celebrate the Star Wars franchise normally held in America but occasionally venturing into Europe.  2016 saw the return of the event to our shores, Celebration Europe III, London 15th -17 July 2016.  Guests announced were Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Warrick Davis and Anthony Daniels (C3P0) to name a few.  On the day of release for the tickets, I had purchased my entry for the Saturday show....8 months early!

To grow my excitement further, we were also blessed with the next installment in the franchise, The Force Awakens came out in December 2015.  With trepidation and anxiety, hoping it was not a return to the dismal prequel form, I went to the midnight showing.  Thankfully I left with absolute faith in the future of the Galaxy Far, Far Away (full review of the film can be found here).  With Celebration still months away, but Star Wars fever growing, I had a feeling it was going to be an event to remember.

I had opted for the slow but cheap transport to our capital city via MegaBus.  5 hours on a bus with time to kill.  The last time I was in London was to support Jade Jones win gold at the London Olympics, but that was with Clare and a group of family and friends, this time I was venturing down alone and 5 hours with no company on a big blue bus is not something I put high on my agenda.  Giddy for the day ahead but daunted by the dreary journey to the Big Smoke, my only solution to this was to pile my phone full of films. Instead of going for the obvious choice of any part of the inaugural triumvirate, I opted for Fan Boys, it seemed completely apt.  Fans travelling miles for the love of the franchise.  I also watched "The Martian" just purely because it is a great film.


Time seemed to pass quickly and soon I was off the bus, buzzing with excitement but miles from my destination.  I had looked into ways of traversing the golden streets of Londinium but opted for a touristic approach taking in the compulsory sights en-route.  Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Waterloo Station (with it's Ghostbusters promotion), Great Fire of London Monument and my cousin who works at the greatest pizza restaurant in Old Smokey, Authentic Pizza, South Bank (well worth a visit, tell them Pondo sent you).  A quick check into my hotel, showered and refreshed I went to the ExCel to collect my pass for Saturday's event.

The ticket collection was quite quiet, I assumed everyone had collected their tickets on the day or earlier and I was happy to wander whilst reading the program that came with the pass.  Trying to work out what activities and shows I would take in whilst trying to fit in as much as possible in just 7 hours our Star Wars bliss.  When I looked up from the booklet, I was a little shocked.  Somehow, whilst oblivious to the world I had wondered passed security and into the Friday event.  No one had questioned me or asked for any proof that I should be there, amidst the hustle and bustle of fans in costumes and the greatest variety of Star Wars Tshirts, I stood with my Saturday pass waiting to be evicted, I waited, I ventured further into the crowds, I blended, I wandered, I smiled.

This was massive! I decided to focus on one of the halls, trying to see as many stalls as possible, plan future purchases and take in the atmosphere.  It was electric, excitable and entertaining.  John William's infamous overture played, props from the films loomed and some of the most impressive costumes ever just ambled by.  Not wanting to out stay my welcome, once I had been overwhelmed enough with the sights, sounds and ambiance, I decided to call it a night.  I knew I would be up early in the morning with a big day ahead and wanted to be fresh.  It was then I overheard a conversation about a special screening of "A New Hope" and there were still wristbands available for the show.  Surely I would not be able to secure one of these illustrious bands without a valid pass, surely this would be the moment I was questioned to my presence at the show, at least I could ask, what had I got to lose?

I have seen A New Hope a few times before, but never like this.  With 4000+ people who passionately cared about the film, laughed at it's many flaws, whooped and hollared at each characters debut's and quoting lines with glee.  This was the re-imagined cut of the film with alterations and special upgrades, so when the Han and Greedo scene was played the whole audience was shouting, "Han shot first!"  I have never laughed, smiled or enjoyed a showing of one of my favourite films more than this night.  Knowing that some of the stars were also in the audience made it even more magical.

Completely drained, I called it a night once seeing the Death Star blown to smithereens.  A slow walk back to the hotel knowing that in a couple of hours I would be back.

I arrived at the ExCel around 7:30 am with the doors opening at 10am I had a couple of hours to grab my wristbands, get in line and take as much in as possible.  Thankfully, arriving as early as I did the queues had not yet fully formed.  Each entrant was allowed two wristbands, so I queued for the "Force Awakens, Droids, Aliens and Costumes Show - Hosted by Warrick Davis" and "Without Protocol - Anthony Daniels".  This would give me great opportunity to fit a couple of shows in the afternoon with a bit of mooching in the morning and then see what is left to do in the early evening.  Planned to perfection.

Based on my sneaky observations the day before, I noticed that the Celebration Store has a continuous queue that never died down.  Approximately 90 minutes before entering the exclusive store, something I wanted to do to commemorate my visit, but something I did not want to waste valuable mooching time on.  My intention was to queue from 8am (near the front) and then rush towards the store, hopefully bagging a quick queue time.  10am the doors opened, and the VIP's entrants were given access to Celebration, followed by the Medical Needs groups, followed by the Access All passes....the crowds were building and I was still nowhere near entering.  When our group was released I quickly ambled towards the ever growing queue....I stopped....thought....and walked away.  The 90 minute queue point was a distant memory for those at the back of the line.

After a little merchandising I used my first wristband access and went to see the creatures from The Force Awakens.  With an awesome introduction to it's host, Mr Warrick Davis, I was amazed at my lucky seating choice as I got to high (low) five Warrick as he approached the stage on his segway! Great moment.

The show gave us an insight into the creative process of the masterminds behind the scenes.  Warrick, who is usually in some form of costume was a great, insightful host.  With a little sneak peak at a character from the upcoming Rogue One film this was a really interesting and entertaining show.

Second on the list was "Without Protocol", Anthony Daniels (C3-P0) has never been high on my list of actors to meet based on pop culture reviews, after an interview session with Warrick and the Golden Actor, I have completely changed my opinion, what a very entertaining chap!  He realises what Star Wars has done for him and how he will always be known as the annoying character from the whole series, but he gives as good as he gets.

After my shows, I was feeling a little hungry, but on my way to the food hall I noticed something. Maybe most of the Celebration crowd were as hungry as myself...the queue for the Celebration store...where was everyone? I jumped at the chance and 20 minutes later I was in the store realising that I needed more money to buy even a bottle opener.  Opting for a Celebration branded Tshirt (that was not in stock) I left thinking how annoyed I would have been if I had queued for hours.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to take in as much of the amazing atmosphere as possible. Loving the experience and spending a little hard earned cash on branded items.  BB8's were everywhere, Rey's & Kylo's were in abundance, but the Mandalorian's (Boba Fett), Jedi's and Stormtroopers overwhelmed.

After 12 hours, my day was done, I was exhausted and had another 5 hours on a bus to look forward to, but this time I was going home to my princesses and there was no better feeling than that.