May The Force Be With You

So this weekend was "Celebration Europe", a Star Wars convention celebrating 30 years of Star Wars (scary to think that Episode IV: A New Hope has been around for that long!) I managed to get along to the convention, and it was amazing! First of all I couldn't believe how many people were there (it was jam packed to the point of being a bit unbearable at times) and then I couldn't believe the range of stuff there was! Not just merchandising, but there were several 'fan' stages set up where they would interview actors and crew from the films (I got to see Ray Parks (Darth Maul), Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), vintage toys auction (didn't buy anything fortunately, although I did see a vintage Luke Skywalker for sale at one of the stalls for a whopping £295!), jedi training (for the kids), autograph area (seriously overpriced)... and then there were the fans themselves, dressed up in various Star Wars costumes. There was a big disco on the Saturday night and a big screen set up on the Friday night showing A New Hope - I really wish I'd been able to go to the whole convention, not just one day. Oh and they had some of the original props, concept drawings and stuff from the movies, plus I also got to see the trailer for the new animated TV series of The Clone Wars which looks really impressive... Anyway, I managed to bring my trusty canon camcorder along for the event, and have put together a little teaser for those Star Wars fans out there who didn't get to go to the convention... the only problem is my camcorder doesn't do so well in low light, but hopefully you get a sense of the vibe... enjoy!