Diary of a first-time Star Wars Celebration attendee

Alright. Day one, and there’s a lot to get covered. I didn’t particularly want to get there before the queue officially opened, so it was a 7.30am start. Wake up, shower, and out the door by 8. I’d had this plan of going to a sandwich shop on the way to the station to get my lunch, but apparently it was closed for Good Friday, so there went that idea! Instead, I simply made my way to the ExCel Centre with a cereal bar in my belly and not a lot else. I joined the queue at 9, managed to get into the centre by about 10.30, and it was straight into it.

I’d been fortunate to win a spot for the Lucasfilm Showcase in the Galaxy Stage, and I’d got to say that was a weird experience. Watching a stream of a panel with about 3000 other people, which you couldn’t stream elsewhere, was weird!

But what a show, by the way. Andor! Acolyte! Mando! Skeleton Crew! Ahsoka! Films! Indy! They had it all!

My esteemed colleagues covered those topics and more in far greater detail than I could possibly hope to. But, I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes at multiple points through the 100ish minutes of announcements. There was palpable electricity from minute zero, and the explosion was like anything I’ve felt in Star Wars since…maybe ever?

That took a lot out of me. I needed a sit down to recover from the sit-down. The crowds didn’t help. I’ve a couple of criticisms of the ExCel Centre, but the main one is the crowding. Appreciate we’re all pretending that Covid is over, but the main corridor up the middle was super uncomfortable at times. Fortunately, that was only really a serious issue around lunchtime.

So I headed upstairs, sat in the floor, and had a flapjack. And oh my god BB-8 rolled over to me and said hello. Anyone who knows me knows that BB-8 is my guy. My overwhelming day simply wasn’t going to end.

Weird experience; I wanted to get into (one of) the Holonet Stage(s) for the Full of Sith live podcast so I went into the room a little early just to get a seat. Turns out “Star Wars Libro and Comics” were doing their thing and I’d interrupted. A quick apology, and they continued, though I’m stared out by everyone in attendance. Turns out it’s an Italian podcast, I’m the only non-Italian speaker in the room. I’m sure it was fine.

One of the perks of getting into the Lucasfilm Showcase was getting invited back later in the day to watch an advance screening of chapter 23 of The Mandalorian. Absolutely no spoilers, obviously, but seeing it in a crowd was certainly something. I’ve not always clicked with Mando, but this one felt like it hit. And I’m not just saying that because of the experience.

And then I was off home for the day. Barely a moment to peruse the show floor, though I’m sure I’ll find time over the next couple of days. I did pick up a con-exclusive yellow-paged copy of Lydia Kang’s Cataclysm (I’m so behind on the High Rep stuff so I guess it’s sitting in the pile til I catch up), but not much else.

I’ve been to music festivals and stuff in the past, so I really thought I was prepared for what was to come, but I’m far more exhausted than I thought I’d be. I can feel my eyes begging for me to go to bed as I write this, so I’ll listen to them this time.