''Star Wars'' Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May4 to celebrate the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various fil ...

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

created by founder, former chairman and CEO of

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as cha ...

. Observance of the day spread quickly through media and

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

celebrations since the franchise began in 1977. The date originated from the

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophon ...

"''May the Fourth'' be with you", a variant of the popular ''Star Wars''

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

" May the Force be with you". Even though the holiday was not created or declared by Lucasfilm, many ''Star Wars'' fans around the world have chosen to celebrate the holiday. It has since been embraced by Lucasfilm and parent company Disney as an annual celebration of ''Star Wars''. Additionally, the release date of the original ''Star Wars'' movie on May 25, 1977 is also celebrated as Geek Pride Day.

History

The first recorded reference of the phrase being used was on May 4, 1979, the day after

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

was elected as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

. Her political party, the

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, placed a congratulatory advertisement in the ''

London Evening News The ''London Evening News'' was a newspaper whose first issue was published on 14 August 1855. Usually, when people mention the ''London Evening News'', they are actually referring to '' The Evening News'', published in London from 1881 to 1980, ...

'' saying "May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations." In the 1988 episode of ''

Count Duckula ''Count Duckula'' is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off from '' Danger Mouse'', a series in which an early version of the ...

'', "The Vampire Strikes Back", a space-faring superhero, Tremendous Terrance, asks Duckula the date and is told, "May the Fourth". As Terrance departs, he tells all below, "May the Fourth be with you." The phrase was used in a

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

defence debate on May 4, 1994. Astrophysicist and author Jeanne Cavelos used the saying on page 94 of her 1999 book '' The Science of Star Wars''. In 2008, the first Facebook groups appeared, celebrating ''Luke Skywalker Day'', with the same catchphrase. In 2011, the first organized celebration of ''Star Wars'' Day took place in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anc ...

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at the Toronto Underground Cinema. Produced by Sean Ward and Alice Quinn, festivities included an original trilogy trivia game show; a costume contest with celebrity judges; and the web's best tribute films, mash-ups, parodies, and remixes on the big screen. The second annual edition took place on Friday, May 4, 2012. Fans (even government officials, such as

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 20 ...

) have celebrated ''Star Wars'' in a variety of ways in social media and on television.

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL ...

, association football, and

college sports College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...

teams have paid tribute to Star Wars in different ways. Minor League Baseball teams such as the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played i ...

and the Durham Bulls have worn special uniforms as part of ''Star Wars'' Day promotions. On ''Star Wars'' Day 2015, astronauts in the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

watched ''Star Wars''. Also in 2015, the carillon bells inside the

Peace Tower The Peace Tower (french: link=no, Tour de la Paix) is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Towe ...

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architect ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

played " The Imperial March" theme from ''Star Wars'', among other space-related tunes.

Official celebrations

Since 2013,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

has officially observed the holiday with several ''

'' events and festivities at

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and

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...

. Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, including the rights to ''Star Wars'', in late 2012. The finale of '' The Clone Wars'' was made available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television s ...

on May 4, 2020. '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'', as well as the documentary series '' Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian'', were also made available on Disney+ the same day. The animated series '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch'' also premiered on Disney+ on Star Wars Day in 2021. The second official trailer for ''

Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinness. In the later-released prequel trilogy, ...

'' was officially released on May 4, 2022 as well as '' Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett''.

Additional dates

Revenge of the Fifth/Sixth

Some recognize the day after, May 5, as "Revenge of the Fifth", a play on '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' and celebrate the Sith Lords and other villainous characters from the ''Star Wars'' series rather than the

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi O ...

. Others celebrate this one day later, on May 6, citing "Revenge of the Sixth" as a better play on " Sith", while others refer to the 6th as "Return of the 6th" as a play on ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American Epic film, epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Luc ...

'' and the trilogy aspect of the ''Star Wars'' films.

May 25

In honor of the 30th anniversary release date of ''Star Wars'' on May 25, 1977, the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tem ...

declared May 25, 2007 as ''Star Wars'' Day. A separate initiative for observing Geek Pride Day on May 25 is based on the ''Star Wars'' connection along with ties to ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it w ...

'' ( Towel Day) and ''

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pl ...

''. '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'' was also released on May 25, 2018, 41 years after the original ''Star Wars''.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Unofficial observances Star Wars fandom Puns May observances Recurring events established in 2011 2011 establishments in Ontario