EVENT Star Wars Celebration Chicago April 11 - 15, 2019

I'll be there all 5 days and looking at trying to get into as many panels as possible.

 

I wish I had time and money to go to this event.

 

But I thought this franchise was ...... "Dead" ......!!!??!!!???

 

I will be there all 5 days. It is local for my and my 3 sons. Still we rented a AirBnB to be close. McCormick place has a ton of space. I hope they really take advantage of it.

 

I'd be surprised if they didn't have a panel with the actors given there was no celebration this year. At the least I can see Joonas and Jon Favreau being there since they are tied to other projects and maybe Alden, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Ron Howard as well. I know Donald Glover said that he wants to attend so would be cool if he is there and does a panel, especially since Billy Dee will be there for episode IX. Emilia may or may not depending on what stage they're at with Game of Thrones and promoting the final season.

 

I'm curious about there being Prequel Era Anniversary content. That's something of a rarity as far as modern Star Wars marketing and merchandising focus goes.

 

yes i am just trying to fins a palce to stay.

 

More updates-



Warwick Davis is the Celebration Stage host once again.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 27, 2018, Original Post Date: Dec 27, 2018 ---

More authors added as well

 

Just find out on Christmas morning that I will be going to Celebration on Saturday! I hope to at least make it into the Episode 9 Panel and if they have any Clone Wars panels that day, then that too!

 

Hope for you the EP9 panel is on Saturday.

 

I have a feeling the IX panel will be on Saturday since they will probably have some type of opening panel on Friday to kick things off and that way when they show a trailer it can be uploaded to YouTube and other social media outlets on a day when most people aren't at work.

 

Celebration 2015 shows the TFA trailer on Thursday April 16
Celebration 2017 showed the TLJ trailer on Friday. Thursday was ANH 40th anniversary day.

So maybe Friday will be TPM anniversary day, but since Saturday will be the day with the most kids I would suspect that Saturday would be animation oriented day. Maybe also Star Wars Galaxy day.

If it was me.
Thursday fans and shopping day.
Friday Prequels and Ep9 day. Start with prequel panel. Would be cool to see announcement of some special edition sort of thing. Really what I would hope for most is music only versions like Rian Johnson did with TLJ. Then later afternoon the EP9 panel.
Saturday Animation, Video Games and Theme park day
Sunday Live Action TV day
Monday Future Films day

 

I would argue that Saturday just being one of the most crowded days in general would be enough motivation for them to focus entirely on Ep IX. I see it possibly shaking out like this:
Thursday: Preview day
Friday: Welcome panel/TPM/20th anniversary of celebration
Saturday: EP IX big reveal
Sunday: Disney Plus programming (TV shows, TCW, Resistance) and Galaxy's edge
Monday: Closing/Potential new projects (but I could see this being sprinkled throughout the weekend especially if they announce something like a Kenobi movie)

I also imagine they will have smaller panels scattered throughout the weekend with one on ones with specific guests and whatnot. I just don't see them wanting to have anything else go on with the ep IX day so that they are able to maximize social media marketing from people sharing the trailer and the general hype around it.

 

Based on the last 3 events the biggest panel (TFA, Rogue One, 40th) is on the first day. Looking at US events (since London was only 3 days) the second biggest event (ROTS 3D premiere, TLJ) is on the second day, then animation is on the Saturday (Rebels seasons 2-4 panel premieres).

Of course this year is a 5 day event with a preview day, so it's hard to predict based on past events.

I'd guess at

Thur - preview day
Fri - Episode IX/20th Anniversary of Celebration & PT
Sat - Animation - Clone Wars & Resistance Season 2 (if it gets a second season)
Sun - The Mandalorian
Mon - Future Films & TV/Closing Panel

Maybe they switch the animation day with The Mandalorian as that's the second big event after IX, but who knows. The only one I'm really confident on is IX on Friday as the big opening panel.