Star Wars Celebration

Star Wars Celebration is a fan gathering to celebrate the Star Wars franchise. It began in 1999, when Lucasfilm held the Star Wars Celebration in Denver, Colorado to celebrate the upcoming release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Subsequent events have taken place to welcome Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as well as honoring the 30th Anniversary of the release of the original three films. The eighth such event, the sixth to be held in the United States, took place in August 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

The Star Wars Celebration was held from April 30-May 2, 1999, at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, Colorado, just three weeks before the release of The Phantom Menace. An event for the fans, by the fans, Star Wars Celebration took place in the hometown of the Official Star Wars Fan Club, headed by Dan Madsen. "The Fan Club is based here in Denver," says Madsen, "so we thought it would only be appropriate that the Celebration be held here."

The first Star Wars convention since 1987, the Celebration consisted of activities including actor panels, THX theater demonstrations, behind the scenes footage from Episode I, and the world premiere of the Duel of the Fates music video. The grounds boasted a vendors tent, and the museum hosted an exhibition consisting of props from the official LucasFilm archives, including Anakin's full-scale Pod Racer and a life-size X-Wing Fighter (a 3/4 scale replica made in 1996 for the Special Edition release, and still residing at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum), allowing the estimated 20,000 attendees to get a true glimpse into LucasFilm and Star Wars history.

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