Next weekend sees the start of ForceFest 2020, a three-day online event that brings together websites, podcasts and fans from across Star Wars fandom with the aim of raising money for Make-A-Wish on the weekend that Star Wars Celebration would have happened.
Making Tracks are excited to be a part of the event, bringing our panel ‘The 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back‘ on Saturday 29th August at 9.30am PT, 5.30pm UK time, looking at Empire from the UK perspective, specifically that incredible Marvel Comics run that bridged the two sequels.
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of the official Star Wars Celebration fan convention scheduled for August, 2020 in Anaheim California, a group of fans leapt into action to create FORCEFEST, an on-line event that will bring the fandom together leveraging streaming platforms while raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The virtual conference will be held on the GetVokl platform and will take place on August 28-30, to coincide with the dates that Star Wars Celebration 2020 was to be held.
“Star Wars Celebration has always been a huge part of Star Wars fandom,” said Sarah Woloski, one of the event’s organizers. “Fans gather from all over the world to celebrate the Star Wars saga and meet up with new and old friends. We knew we could use technology to mimic that feel virtually.”
FORCEFEST will stream in six different themed “stages” on the GetVokl platform covering Content Creators, A Virtual Meetup “Cantina Lounge,” Interviews and Discussions, Live Action, Comics/Animation/Books, and a Miscellaneous stage. On these tracks, fans will be able to view streamed video versions of various fan-created podcasts that register to be a virtual presenter or host.
“The Star Wars fandom has always been active online creating their own content out of love for the saga,” said David Jesse of Tatooine Sons, one of the organizing shows. “FORCEFEST will create a larger platform for shows of all themes and sizes to share their unique brand of streaming in a shared environment.”
One of the objectives of FORCEFEST: Celebrating The Saga is to give the opportunity for all voices in the Star Wars fandom to be heard. The organization committee has made a commitment to providing a platform for diverse hosts and topics in a family-friendly environment.
ForceFest can be found on Instagram @forcefestsaga, on Twitter @ForceFestSaga or on Facebook by searching for ForceFest and you’ll be able to hear the panel on a future episode of Making Tracks.
