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celebfest
2007 |
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Report by Mark
Newbold |
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2007 has
certainly been a landmark year for Star Wars. not only has it
celebrated 30 years of worldwide popularity, but the saga continues to
grow, bringing in more and more fans and proving that, as those good
folks at LFL are so eager to say - 'Star Wars is Forever'... |
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In aide of
Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice, Sheffield Hallam University and The
Star organised a new event - Celebfest. Held at Hallam
University's City Campus, the event boasted three classic guests from
the Star Wars saga. Kenny Baker, Warwick Davis and Darth Vader
himself, David Prowse MBE. So, on a cloudy Sunday morning I took a
drive up the M1 to Sheffield to catch up with a friend, make a few new
ones and see what Celebfest 2007 held in store for me... |
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Sunday 14th
October 2007 |
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Mark Newbold,
Webmaster and Editor |
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Mark - "I arrived just after
11am and managed to find a nearby car park, and after asking a handful
of people where the convention was, and being told to "Follow the
Stormtroopers", I eventually had to call my Celebration Europe buddy
Iain Armstrong, who pointed me in the right direction. As soon as
I entered the doors I saw a chap that Louis had a long conversation with
at CE about strengthened Lightsabre blades - red goatee, green Jedi
robes, you know who you are - paid my entry fee and took a stroll around
the room." |
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Some of
the many autographs on display at Celebfest 2007 |
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Mark - "There were a huge
number of autographs on display, lining the tables and walls. Not
only Star Wars autographs but television and sport, which was really
interesting. The hall wasn't huge, it was basically a school hall
with three sides of memorabilia and the guest wall. Certainly not
Celebration Europe, but the lifeblood of fandom is kept pumping with
conventions like this. Of the three guests I hadn't yet
interviewed Warwick Davis, so I introduced myself - I'd spoken to him as
part of a group at Celebration Europe in July - and asked if we could
arrange an interview. He said he was happy to do it today, and so
I left him to his signings and scuttled away to buy a notepad and a pen
and jot some questions down." |
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Mark - "As I came back into
the building someone called out from behind me "Lightsabre?" It
was Graham from Jedi News. We'd never met, but Graham is a regular
contributor to Jedi News. We had a good chat about all things Star
Wars related and discussed our own sites plans for the future. It
was good to meet him, and also great to know that both sites were
represented there." |
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Birmingham's own Kenny Baker |
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Mark - "I managed to have a
couple of minutes with Kenny, mentioning our interview with him a few
years back and our chat at Celebration Europe. And yes, Kenny did
get a good laugh out of Bex falling asleep at the Novotel, as did
Shannon McRandle." |
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Dave
Prowse MBE |
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Mark - "I couldn't resist the
chance to go over and shake Dave's hand. He was the second
interview Lightsabre ever did, back in 2000 and that really put us on
the map. As well as that, he also graciously gave Lightsabre a
batch of autographed photographs at Celebration Europe, to auction and
raise money. Louis has been in touch with Dave's website, and we'd
certainly love to interview him again some time in the future." |
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A
packet of Smarties to the first person who spots Jedi Iain
Armstrong in this photo |
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Mark - "There was a great
mixture of very young and older fans - god, am I now an 'older' fan? -
which is always a lovely thing to see. As at the National Space
Centre there were kids playing with their Lightsabre's and running about
in little Darth Vader suits. There were also plenty of students
from the University, as well as Iain Armstrong, our good friend from
Celebration Europe. We had a good mooch around the room, checking
out the various stands and commenting on the new range of 30th
anniversary figures. Then I sidled off for a few minutes to have
my chat with Warwick." |
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Warwick
Davis, our very generous interview guest |
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Mark - "Warwick was really
great and gave us a top interview, discussing everything from Harry
Potter to Return of the Ewok. I was so pleased, he's been on my
list of 'wanted' guests for a few years, so to finally get an interview
- and a face-to-face one at that - was a bit special." |
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Mark - "All in all I think
Celebfest 2007 was a great success. Everyone seemed to be having a
fun time and the guests were ready and willing to chat and have photo's
taken with all and sundry. Here's hoping we're writing about
Celebfest 2008 this time next year." |
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