Star Wars Celebration 2020 Canceled
By George Robbins
The Star Wars franchise is one that now spans entire generations and has a fan base many franchises wish they could have in terms of size and loyalty to the brand. There are countless ways that Lucasfilms keeps their fans on the line to keep them interested in their next project. Not only does Lucasfilms do what they can to keep fans in the bleachers, but fans themselves find ways to keep themselves immersed in the community. Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic makes it just a bit more difficult for the community to band together and get excited for all things Star Wars. Usually there are conventions that get fans the world over to come and spend time with one another while awaiting new information for the franchise they love.
This is something that will not get to happen this year unfortunately since, just like other conventions like Comic Con, the annual Star Wars Celebration convention was canceled. This isn’t really too much of a surprise to anyone since the virus is starting to make a comeback now. Lucasfilms decided that it would be far too dangerous even with restrictions for them to host the annual convention. This isn’t even the first convention that was Star Wars related to be canceled this year. The May the 4th Star Wars convention was shut down to some extent due to the fact that conventions themselves are breeding grounds for disease. This didn’t stop the convention from being hosted online as a virtual convention.
It seems as though Lucasfilms will not be following in that conventions footsteps as they have completely canceled the event. There will not even be an online variant of the convention to take its place in August, instead the event will not be held again until August of 2022. Fans who had already purchased tickets can choose to transfer those to 2022, receiving a limited-edition Stormtrooper character pin as thanks. Alternatively, they can also choose to receive a refund, or exchange the cost of the ticket for credits for Star Wars merchandise. The refund request process will run from June 22nd to August 26th for anyone that wants their money back or put towards something else.
The cancellation of this convention is a heavy blow to Star Wars fans since it is the way that new content is laid out for future plans for the franchise. All of the huge announcements about the upcoming titles involved with it are usually made at that convention and now there won’t be one for two years. Not only have they decided to cancel the event this year, but they are going to be skipping it entirely next year. One of the only reasons for that is because although it is still a year out, there is no telling just how long this pandemic will end up going on for. They have no reason to set up and plan a huge event next year if they have no idea if they can even have it at all.