Life Day vs. Star Wars Day: Which holiday is better?

With so many ways to celebrate the Star Wars franchise, how does one know where to begin? Worry no longer, as the definitive guide for all your Star Wars holiday needs is finally here!

We’ll begin with Star Wars Day as that one is a little easier to digest as well as being… y’know… real. It began as nothing more than a pun which made remembering the date that much easier. May the 4th, and with it, the now obligatory phrase “may the fourth be with you.” A play on words of course of the iconic line, “May the Force be with you.” It is a date of no real significance to the franchise. Previous fan celebrations had usually occurred on May 25, the release date of the original Star Wars.

The first fan-organized occurrence on record was 2011’s Star Wars Day celebrations in Toronto, Canada at Toronto’s famous Underground Cinema. The revelries involved a variety of party-themed games with a distinct Star Wars twist, a trivia game show and even a costume contest. The success of this event can be measured by its repetition the following year.

There was, however, no corporate-level acknowledgment of the event until 2013. Disney, having acquired Lucasfilm only a few months previously, began integrating the fan-made holiday into the official annual commemorations for the franchise.

Today, Star Wars Day is widely known, even among the more casual fans. It now frequently serves as a day on which franchise news is revealed or new shows are launched. The final episode of The Clone Wars was released on May 4 in 2020, and The Bad Batch had its premiere episode on that day this year.

There are so many ways to celebrate the franchise. Which one is right for you?

And now for Life Day.

Unlike Star Wars Day, this one actually takes place in the galaxy far, far away. It first appeared in the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978. It began as a Wookiee tradition that celebrated the renewal of life and paid remembrance to those who had passed on.

It is likely the event was intended to be analogous to Thanksgiving seeing as the Holiday Special first aired on the Friday before Thanksgiving of that year. It seems, however, that this has been misconstrued over the years as Life Day is now seen as a Star Wars stand-in for Christmas. Other in-universe celebrations of the event have indeed taken on notably more Christmassy themes as can be seen most recently with last year’s LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special.

So, which holiday is the best? Star Wars Day or Life Day?

The answer is neither.

The real best, fake holiday is of course: Revenge of the Fifth! A play on the title of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith — A mostly tongue-in-cheek celebration of all things Sith and the dark side. It shares this date with Cinco de Mayo and is conveniently the day right after Star Wars Day!

Which Star Wars holiday do you like better? Let us know in the comments