When Star Wars Celebration 2020 (originally set to take place in Anaheim, California this past weekend) was cancelled back in mid-June, it was reasonably assumed that Lucasfilm would step up and host some sort of virtual event in its stead, similar to how San Diego Comic-Con organized Comic-Con@Home in July.
Sadly, that was not to be, but one group of enterprising fans (the core of which being our friends at the Disney/Star Wars-focused Skywalking Through Neverland podcast) decided to take the initiative and put together their own online convention championing all things from A Galaxy Far, Far Away: ForceFest 2020: Celebrating the Saga, which took place successfully from August 29th through the 30th on the GetVokl streaming service.
ForceFest 2020 launched Friday evening with an introductory Opening Ceremony hosted by Skywalking Through Neverland’s Richard and Sarah Woloski with appearances by the event’s other organizers and contributors, plus some fun trivia contests and a preview of what virtual attendees would experience over the following two days.
Then Saturday morning, the fun began with a cavalcade of panels discussing topics like the iconic music of the Star Wars film franchise, the all-but-forgotten Ewok Adventures made-for-television movies, Star Wars comic books, fan filmmaking, the future of Star Wars on Disney+, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge character Vi Moradi, the upcoming Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative, diversity in Star Wars, and even how to make Star Wars origami. Plus, Laughing Place’s own Star Wars podcast Who’s the Bossk? (hosted by yours truly) even got in on the action with a fascinating conversation featuring creature performer Dee Tails. Then the evening wrapped up with a virtual iteration of “Forcechella” (basically a Star Wars-themed karaoke contest) that brought down the ForceFest house.
Sunday’s panels and presentations also covered a wide variety of topics such as Star Wars fan communities, the wildlife of Star Wars, several different chats about Star Wars toys, a history of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and a new documentary about the making of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. But the absolute highlight of ForceFest’s final day (and by far the panel that drew in the most attention) was the hour-long tribute to the late visual effects artist Grant Imahara, which was anchored by his fellow Industrial Light & Magic coworkers and Mythbusters star Adam Savage.
ForceFest 2020 came to and end late Sunday evening with a retrospective Closing Ceremony inviting comments from viewers and participants, but the best part was undeniably the reveal that the event had reached it goal of raising more than $3,000 for Make-A-Wish of Greater Los Angeles— a very worthy cause indeed. Beyond that, the entire weekend was a treat for myself (as I’m sure it was for everyone else involved) to be able to replicate a big chunk of the spirit of Star Wars Celebration in its absence this year. The only major things missing were seeing everyone in person and the official involvement of Lucasfilm, but that will happen again when the next Celebration takes place in summer of 2022. For now, however, it was great to feel the energy of the Star Wars fan community as so many of its members came together to “Celebrate the Saga.”
