A Look Back at Star Wars Celebration

Many fans flew across the world to Denver for the weekend, including such far-flung locales as Spain, Australia, Germany, and Finland, as well as a French documentary film crew. Fans also came from all over the United States. New Yorkers Michael Cruz and Heather Kunzer were on a mission at the Celebration. Kunzer, a retail store manager in Manhattan, was eight months pregnant with their first child, and the couple was fishing for baby names.

"Star Wars has had a big influence on my life since I was a child, and we're looking for a strong and powerful name that not everyone has," father-to-be Cruz said. "Right now, the names in the running for a girl would be a combination of Queen Amidala and her handmaiden, Padmé. Since this interview was done, Michael and Heather are now the proud parents of a to a baby girl named Ariela (a character from Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina) Ashla (term for the light side of the Force from an early Star Wars script) Naberrie (from Episode I) Cruz (Michael's last name). Ariela was born June 27th, 1999.

As the weekend drew to a close, attendees could see that the biggest Star Wars fan event ever only left them with one thing to do: wait two more weeks for Episode I. Some went home with action figures and T-shirts, others just memories. Whatever they took home, everyone had one thing to share: special memories of a truly landmark event in movie history.