ON June 17 and 18, Star Wars fans – expected to total over 15,000 – will converge on Paradigm Mall for the Festival of the Force, a 40th anniversary celebration of the release of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.
theSun spoke to The Force is 40, the festival’s ragtag group of organisers for more details on what’s happening in the two days.
“We’re very confident it will surpass the numbers from the last Star Wars event we did,” said Daniel, the de factor “founder” of the group.
The last event he referred was in 2017, which had a reported 14,000 fan turnout. The Malaysian Book of Records will supposedly be at the event.
Daniel says this event will be bigger than the last due multiple reasons.
“During the 2017 event, it had one charity home, but for this event we have two. The last event also had 20 exhibitors; this event has 56. There are also so much more activities”.
For charity
According to Julian, there was supposed to be one event back in 2020, but due to how COVID shut everything down, he had to lay low and “hibernate”.
Now, with this event honoring RotJ’s 40th anniversary, Julian decided to do one last one for the road as it’s the last film in the Original Trilogy.
Daniel joined last year, and not long afterwards, Paradigm Mall threw its support behind the event.
“From there, it became a snowball effect; the event just got bigger and bigger”.
The event, which was founded on the basis of charity and goodwill, has roped in two charities this year.
“One is from Gabungan Anak-Anak Palsi Serebrum (GAPS) and the other is Ti-Ratana Toy Bank. GAPS will be participating in a Star Wars costume contest. All the proceeds from the event will be donated back to GAPS,” Julian explained.
“For the toy bank, there will be a toy donation drive. Toys collected during the two days will be donated to Ti-Ratana Toy Bank for distribution afterwards”.
Eventful two days
As for the activities planned, Malik – who joined the group last year – explained that the two days will be stacked.
“There’s going to be cosplay, a fashion show, a lightsaber workshop and a performance from a drama school. There will be a contest for fathers, sons and daughters, along with a voice impersonation contest. There will be collector items that has never been seen before for display”, he excitedly listed out.
Malik also explained that there will be a huge panel session with renowned artists who have worked with Star Wars, Marvel and so on, and those that attend the two-day event will have access to Star Wars themed food and beverages.
There will also be a panel session with renowned artists that have worked with Star Wars, Marvel, and so on. We will also have Star Wars themed food and beverages.
“We hope to achieve a sizable donation to the charities. Everybody is encourage to give a helping hand for the children. For the turnout, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for 7,000 people per day,” he continued.
“We’re also hoping to make the country proud by having a huge Star Wars event despite being a small country”.
For more information, follow The Force is 40 at www.facebook.com/theforceis40