Diary of a first-time Star Wars Celebration attendee

Final day, then, and we’re off to an inauspicious start. Totally forgot that I needed to actually pack my stuff and check out, so that was a fun scramble at 9am. Still, I’d manage to get myself sorted and back to the convention centre by about 11.10, just in time to join the Forbidden Planet queue. And a long one it was. I was really hoping that the small plush Grogu would be available and, sadly, it was not. Shame on me! The Wicket I picked up in replacement sadly doesn’t come close, so I look forward to checking eBay every other day to find one.

I did, however, manage to get into the Visions Volume 2 panel on the Celebration Stage, and what a joy that was. Representatives from every studio involved in the project were present to discuss their offerings, and the sheer pride and passion from every one was a pure delight. And, of course, once the live stream cut, out steps Britain’s finest, Aardman, to give us an early showing of their short; I am your mother. And it’s really, really lovely. I can’t wait for you all to see it.

After that, I met up with fellow Dork Side-ian, Kieren Burt, and used that opportunity to wander. Bought a stuffed Grogu dressed as Father Christmas, a pair of socks that were the wrong size, and made tracks. I wasn’t particularly fussed by the closing ceremony, so saw an opportunity to beat the DLR queues out and get home at a reasonable hour.

And there ends my first Star Wars Celebration. By and large, an absolute delight. I won’t likely make the trip to Japan, nor the editions in the States thereafter, but I do hope it’ll make its way back to some part of Europe in the future. Hopefully, by then, one of the convention centres in the UK will have expanded some (and installed a bunch more water points) to avoid the crowding issues. But really, for what it was, I had a really good time. I can see why people go every single year. Here’s to the next one.

So, yeah. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed attending/writing this! What was your highlight of the weekend? Let us know in the comments!