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Celebration Europe is almost here! The Force is strong with Essen, Germany this weekend!

July 24th, 2013 by Marc Comments


Okay Star Wars nuts, that special time is almost upon us, when we all descend on Messe Essen, Germany like Mynocks on the Millennium Falcon to, well…celebrate all facets of Star Wars. This year of course is unlike any other as it’s the first Celebration since the announcement was made that will forever change the face of Star Wars, a Disney takeover and a new trilogy. We here at Following The Nerd and our associated Star Wars podcast, The Empire Talks Back, will be there in full Force (ahem) as official sponsors of Celebration Europe. Keep your eyes glued to FTN for all the coverage of events and breaking news that is sure to come pouring out over the weekend.

As you probably already know, Celebration Europe is gearing up for some big time events and guests. This weekend will see Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill making a special appearance on stage as well as for autograph signings. The guest list doesn’t stop there though as Warwick Davis (Wicket), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and the Emperor himself Ian McDiarmid are all set to appear. If you are into the world building of Star Wars itself then make sure you check out Doug Chiang, Iain McCaig and Ben Burtt, who are in part responsible for the look and sounds of the Star Wars Universe. Chiang is also confirmed to be bringing his artistic talents to Episode VII as well.

Clone Wars fans; be on the look out for Ashley Eckstein, voice of Ahsoka Tano, as well as the head man behind the show, Dave Filoni. Alas, our beloved Clone Wars is pretty much history at this point, but as a super special treat, attendees will get an exclusive special look at the new LucasFilm animated series Star Wars: Rebels. Also on hand will be the walking Star Wars encyclopedia himself, Pablo Hidalgo. Basically, if it’s Star Wars, and it happened on film or in print, this man knows about it.

Of course at the top of the list of appearances will be the woman that runs the whole show, LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy. This could only mean that some huge news will coming out this weekend as I just can’t imagine her making the trip all the way to Germany just to say “hi”. Some people are putting money on her confirming Fisher, Hamill and Ford for Episode VII, but to me that’s already a given. For my money the news has to be a lot bigger than that! So of course stay with The Nerd for that as it breaks.

Not only will they having all these awesome guests and events for all you fans to get into, there are a few screenings that are must-sees. First off, there’s the Darth Maul story arc from the last season of the Clone Wars. It’s been chopped and edited down to run as a full-length feature on its own. A very special treat for all Clone Wars fans and a great way to say goodbye to an awesome show.

Next up is the 3D screening of Attack Of The Clones. Lucas had planned on converting all of the films into 3D for a theatrical release, sadly only Phantom Menace had made it into theatres before Disney purchased LucasFilm and killed that idea. Now you get a chance to see what would’ve come next, I remember reading reactions from a special press screening of AotC in 3D a few years back, in a nut shell the 3D conversion process took better to AotC than it did to Phantom Menace, so this will be great for fans to finally get a chance to see. Lastly, and this is the big one, a special 30th anniversary outdoor screening of Return of the Jedi. That goes down on Friday at 7:30pm so get there early.

Folks, I can not stress enough how this is set to be the biggest and best Celebration yet. We at The Nerd are proud and honored to be able to take part in this special event. You can check out the full schedule of all the events and appearances here. As always, may the Force be with you.

Stick with Following the Nerd all weekend for breaking news, reviews and inteviews… no fan left behind!

 

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….