Celebration IV

Celebration IV, commonly abbreviated as C4 or CIV, was the fourth Celebration of the Star Wars saga. It was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California from May 24 to May 28, 2007. Its primary purpose was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the original Star Wars film which debuted on May 25, 1977. May 24 was exclusively for members of the Hyperspace fan club.

Jay Laga'aia was the Celebrity Master of Ceremonies for the concourse stage, and Doug Steves was the MC for the behind-the-scenes stage.

The event brought in over 35,000 people—the largest attendance of any Star Wars Celebration until Celebration Orlando.

Background

On February 16, 2006, StarWars.com posted an article hinting at a Celebration IV. Up until that point, such an event had been only fan speculation. This announcement by the Official Site led fans to believe that Lucasfilm Ltd. might be in the planning stages at that point. During a question and answer session at the 2006 Star Wars Disney Weekends, Rick McCallum confirmed that there would be a Celebration IV in 2007 as fans had expected. Concurrent with the previous rumor, on May 26, 2006, StarWars.com confirmed officially that there would be a Celebration IV, and that it would be in Los Angeles, California from May 24 to May 28 of 2007. Tickets for the event went on sale at approximately 12:00 PM PST on October 30, 2006, and online pre-registration was available until March 31, 2007.

Official Pix was again in charge of the Star Wars celebrity autographs, likely with more guests than the previous Celebration (which had 41).

On March 24, Los Angeles' California Science Center offered fans tours of their exhibit Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.</ref>

At the 2006 Comic-Con, Stephen J. Sansweet stated that footage from the 3D Clone Wars cartoon would be shown at Celebration IV.

Star Wars six-film marathon

Six-Movie Marathon Commemorative Button

Six-Movie Marathon Commemorative Button

Beginning on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 9:00 AM in Hall K of the Los Angeles Convention Center, there was held an official six-movie Star Wars marathon screened to those who had purchased tickets. The 17-hour long event, including intermissions, rolled directly into the first day of Celebration IV, only open to Hyperspace members. Fans attending the marathon received one of the commemorative buttons created exclusively for the event so that fans could brag that they were there. Tickets were free, available to those attending Celebration IV, but seats were limited and tickets had to be reserved in advance. Concessions were available during the screenings.

Fans could register at the Star Wars Celebration site here.

Sansweet stated that the versions of the films to be shown would be the DVD edits, and that he expects the attendance to the marathon to be around 2,000 - 4,200 people.

Art show

Celebration store

Occupying a majority of Exhibit Hall A, the Celebration Store introduced a new way to gain access to their merchandise by way of Quick Path shopping time reservations. Those who purchased a badge online could obtain one 2-hour timeslot at the Gencon site. The store was open 24 hours a day starting at 12 PM Thursday, May 24, and continued until 2 PM Monday, May 28.

In addition, there was a repaint of the Luke Skywalker X-wing helmet mini-helmet released by Master Replicas, made exclusively for the Celebration IV conference and called the "Wedge Antilles Celebration IV Conference exclusive."

Star Wars autograph celebrities

Thursday, May 24: Noon - 8:00 PM (Hyperspace members). Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 25-27: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM. Monday, May 28: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Open to all CIV attendees. Exhibit Hall HJ

Star Wars collecting panels

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 25-27: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM. Monday, May 28: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Rooms 511 ABC

  • Hilarious Star Wars Items
  • Vintage Bootleg Toys
  • Kenner's Micro Collection
  • Star Wars Collecting Clubs
  • Women's Collecting Panel
  • Animation Collecting
  • Character Collecting
  • Recycled Toys
  • Star Wars Coins
  • Peruvian Star Wars Collectibles
  • Props and Costumes
  • Cast and Crew Items
  • Collecting 101
  • Selling Tips
  • Online Auctions and Collecting

Behind-the-scenes stage (515A)

All events were scheduled to last a maximum of one hour, starting at the times listed below, unless otherwise noted:

  • 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM: Opening Ceremonies!
  • Friday, May 25
  • Saturday, May 26
  • Sunday, May 27
  • Monday, May 28

Legacy of the Force

Aaron Allston, Troy Denning, and Karen Traviss discussed with fans their ongoing work on the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series from Del Rey on Friday, May 25 at 3:30 PM.

Wookieepedia trivia

Constantly perusing the HoloNet? Know more about the dark side than Halagad Ventor? Know who Halagad Ventor is? If so, then consider pitting yourself against the Wookieepedia experts in this game of Star Wars trivia: Stump the Wookiee—because just being here isn't nerdy enough!

Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki, presented a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-based trivia contest complete with prizes on the behind-the-scenes stage. Contestants, initially to be chosen throughout the early days of the convention at the Wookieepedia table in the Fan Fair Exhibit Hall, were instead decided upon at the event based on the fastest to answer a qualification question.

Concourse stage

CIV poster by Steven D. Anderson.

CIV poster by Steven D. Anderson.

All events were scheduled to last one hour, starting at the times listed below:

  • Friday, May 25
  • Saturday, May 26
  • Sunday, May 27
  • Monday, May 28

A Conversation with Carrie Fisher

Tickets to this event were available exclusively to registered pass holders for Celebration IV with online registration ending Monday, April 30. Admission to Fisher's appearance was $15 and seating was limited.

Fan fair exhibit hall (Hall G)

  • Hours for the Fan Fair Exhibit Hall:

Fan stage

All events were scheduled to last a maximum of one hour, starting at the times listed below, unless otherwise noted:

  • Friday, May 25
  • Saturday, May 26
  • Sunday, May 27
  • Monday, May 28

Star Wars Fan Film Awards

Sunday, May 27, 2007

R2-D2 Builders

  • Droid Displays & Demonstrations
  • Droid Races, Trivia Challenge, and XXtreme Droid Competition
  • Droid Building Panels

The One Man Star Wars Trilogy

Fans of the Star Wars movies and fans of live theater enjoyed an exceptional show each time the energetic Charles Ross performed The One Man Star Wars Trilogy. The Canadian actor delighted audiences daily at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Friday, May 25 through Monday, May 28, with a special 6:00 PM showing on Thursday, May 24 for Fan Club members.

Lawrence Noble sculpting

Lawrence Noble, the artist who sculpted the statue of Yoda on display at Lucasfilm's Letterman Digital Arts Center, created a lifesize bust of Obi-Wan Kenobi during all five days of Celebration IV.

Master Replicas Force FX Combat Trials

Three competitions were held at Celebration IV to determine who can achieve the rank of Jedi Knight or Sith Lord.

Star Wars celebrity contest

Jay Laga'aia hosted the first annual Star Wars Celebrity Contest from the Concourse Stage, which showcased fans gifted with talents involving Star Wars ranging from songwriters to character impressionists to comedians. Audition videos were uploaded to YouTube under the tag "starwarscelebrity", and were limited to 90 seconds of footage, and the contestants were chosen from these videos. The winner received a life-sized clone trooper statue with second place taking home a Han Solo in carbonite statue and third bringing in a Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker bust with removable helmet. All contestants, however, received a consolation prize.

Costume pageant

Held on Friday, May 25 and Sunday, May 27 from 4 to 6 PM on the Petree Stage, 75 participants each for two pageants competed for the title of finest costumers in the galaxy.

Fanboys preview

Fans were able to preview scenes from the new Weinstein Company film Fanboys on the afternoon of Friday, May 25 in the Celebration Theater. On Saturday, May 26, a special panel discussion with the movie's creators and some of the actors was held on the Concourse Stage. A comic book detailing events of the movie was also offered to fans at CIV.

Authors

Cast

Dark Horse

Del Rey

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

ILM

Lucasfilm Animation

Production staff

StarWarsShop

  • John Brosio
  • Jan Duursema
  • John Kellerman
  • John Ostrander
  • Drew Struzan

Wizards of the Coast

Other attending celebrities

Sources

Appearances