So Star Wars Day will be here, soon. On May 4th. It’s a Saturday, this year. And since it’s on a Saturday, it’s even more of an excuse for a party than ever before! (It’s not as if many of us miss an excuse to come up with a party idea. But this way, you can force everyone to make it Star Wars themed. Win!)
Many people get confused as to why May 4th is Star Wars Day when A New Hope was released on May 25th. And, well. It came down to the humor of the pun.
Yes. If you haven’t been subjected to the pun, you only need to say it out loud. Go on. Say the date. Yes. “May the 4th.” Now, say, “May the 4th be with you.” Get it?
Get it?
Okay. It’s a groan-worthy pun that even Aaron Allston would find painful. But it’s kinda cute, too. And it’s even more fun to subject Muggles to it. They seem to find it especially amusing.
And while there is a segment of the Star Wars fandom that finds the whole idea distasteful, I like to think of it as a way to kick off an entire month of celebrating. May is big for Star Wars:
- The Great Flanneled One, George Lucas, was born on May 14th.
- Attack of the Clones was released on May 16th.
- The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith were released on May 19th.
- The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21st.
- Return of the Jedi and, the grandaddy of them all, A New Hope were released on May 25th.
So, in theory, even if all you celebrate are movie release dates, you have five more party opportunities, in addition to May the 4th. Add in production milestones and there’s even more, since May is packed with Star Wars history.
I mean, think about it. The Star Wars Holiday Special was released on November 17th. And we all know how that turned out! May is clearly a better month.
So, yeah. Let’s embrace the pun and kick off a month of fun.
Since this kind of stuff makes Dunc cringe, I’ll be doing a series of posts with party ideas to help you get ready to celebrate.
And May the 4th be with you.
I have always enjoyed “May the 4th”. Groan-worthy, oh yes, but fun. Bring on the celebrations!
YES! Thank you! I don’t understand people and their need to put others down because they like to use the saying. There’s no harm in it, at all! It’s just something fun and humorous to play around with. And don’t even get me started on the people who say, “Oh I used to say that when it was underground…” May the Fourth be with you!
Yay! I’m glad there are other people out there who appreciate the fun of it.
And this year, you could have an opening party on May the 4th and a close-out party on May 25th, since they’re both Saturdays!
SW Day is an excuse to dress up and eat sweets, rather like Halloween, only better, because there’s no gory costumes to watch out for.
Just as a bonus reminder, May 4th is also Free Comic Book Day! (and one of Dark Horse comics’ offerings is a Star Wars comic!) So celebrate Star Wars day by going down to your local Comic Book shop and getting free Star Wars comics!
And you’re forgetting the biggie, it’s Jedi News borthday on 4th May as well. Obviously, the focal point of the entire year :-p
And by ‘borthday’ I mean ‘birthday’. Birthdays are celebrated worldwide. Borthdays are only celebrated on the Welsh coast.
Well, of course. Borthdays are very important.