Visitors to StarFest Denver can now meet Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian, in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in the 1980s. Lando, one of the most popular characters in the original trilogy, was the suave space scoundrel who eventually became an invaluable friend to the Jedi. Williams is also slated to appear in the much anticipated Episode VII, the first Star Wars movie under the Disney umbrella, being released next year.
This year, the largest May the 4th Star Wars day celebration announced for the United States (outside of Disney’s theme parks) is taking place in Denver, CO, at the annual StarFest convention. Not just a day – but a full weekend of activities celebrating Star Wars, including a Jar Jar Dunk Tank, Yoda Sound-Alike contest, Miss Empire Pageant, light saber piñata bashes, stormtroopers, life-size functioning R2D2 robots, live costumed stormtroopers, a “These ARE the Droids You’re Looking For” scavenger hunt, trivia, and art and costume contests.
“It’s the ultimate Star Wars Geekend,” says organizer KathE Walker. “We’ve been running this convention since May, 1977. That first year, we were contacted by Lucasfilm, asking if we would mind running a 16mm trailer for a movie they were releasing at the end of the month called Star Wars. They gave us some hand outs and t-shirts to give away and as far as I know we were one of the first conventions to show the trailer anywhere. I figure it this way…if it weren’t for us showing the trailer and getting folks excited about the movie, Star Wars wouldn’t have been the success it is today,” she laughs. “Okay, so I like to think that way.”
Included in this year’s line-up are Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura from the original series), Tim Russ (Tuvok the Vulcan from Star Trek:Voyager), and Stargate’s Amanda Tapping. There is also a tentative “YES” from Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart. More guests, from Star Wars, Star Trek and other shows, are being confirmed weekly.
StarFest is one of the nation’s oldest fan-run science fiction media conventions. Over the decades, the convention has grown to celebrate all forms of science fiction, fantasy and horror, and includes several other conventions-within-a-convention the same weekend: ComicsFest, HorrorFest, GameFest, RoboFest and DigiFest. Owned and operated by lifelong sci-fi fans Stephen and KathE Walker, the weekend event draws more than 10,000 fans annually.
