Friend of Jedi News, Peter Adams of Star Bores, recently attended Star Wars Fan Fun Day 2022 in Blackburn and wrote a review of the event.
Star Wars Fan Fun Day 2022 took place in a sunny Blackburn this past weekend Sunday 8th May 2022, which marked the 15th year anniversary of the event dubbed “an event for Star Wars fans by Star Wars fans”. Moving from its usual venue of Burnley’s Turf Moor football stadium, hosting this year was the home of arch nemesis Blackburn Rovers’ Ewood Park.
Doors opened at 10:30 and the queues were managed well with advanced ticket holders admitted swiftly. Plenty of people had arrived early and weren’t disappointed as members of the Rebel Legion UK, 5th Legion and 99th Garrison costuming groups were posted to greet everyone. Amazingly detailed full body costumes of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Imperial Stormtroopers, Shadow Scouts, a First Order Flametrooper and a Chewbacca were enough to wow both children and adults alike as they awaited the opening of the doors along with rebel heroes Luke, Han, Leia, Rebel Pilots and troopers all interacting with fans and posing for photos.
Once gaining entry we found ourselves in the Premier Suite at Ewood Park which was packed with Star Wars goodness. At times feeling a little cramped, the layout was simple to follow. Along the back wall with windows facing out onto the pitch were the signing guest’s tables which included Charlotte Louise, Mark Lewis Jones, Paul Blake, Jack Klaff, Joe Gibson, Lewis MacLeod, Nick Kellington, Alan Ruscoe, Adam J Smith, Dean Mitchell, Tim Dry, Sean Crawford, Amanda Lawrence, Matt Denton, Dermot Crowley, Dee Tails and Spencer Wilding.
Two location photo sets ups were located on the right side of the premier suite depicting Yoda’s hut on Dagobah and a speeder bike racing through the forests of Endor which proved popular throughout the day. The middle of the room was filled with many traders selling everything from vintage, 90’s and modern Star Wars merchandise including action figures, posters, framed pictures, VHS tapes, trinkets, and clothing. There was also a small amount of Pro Wrestling and Marvel / DC items for sale. To the left side of the room lay the guest photo shoot area where you could have pictures taken with all the attending signing guests who all had their own time slots. Queues would gather in this area as a new guest would begin their slot, but the photographer and printing team worked smoothly as the queue ran itself down.
Paul Blake, aka Greedo was the guest I visited. He signed my Hasbro 6-inch Black Series Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary Power Of The Force packaged Greedo for me and we shared a quick but not rushed conversation. I also had a picture taken with Paul in the Photo area which again was quick but not rushed. All the guests appeared to be having a good time making moments with the fans who were waiting to see them.
Upstairs in what can be described as the concourse / concession’s area of a stand at Ewood park was where you could get limited refreshments of hot dogs, hot drinks and bottles of pop which is essentially what would be being sold on a match day to fans. A McDonald’s was located no more than 2 minutes away which is where we chose to eat. Also on this level was the hugely fun “Shoot A Trooper” where you get 5 shots with a Nerf gun against members of the costuming groups. I took shots at a petrified Ewok, an intense Kylo Ren, a sleek shadow scout and a R2 Unit. All but the R2 unit interacting with the shooters as we attempted to pepper them.
Having raised over £27,000 for East Lancashire Hospice since 2009, Organisers were hoping to raise at least £5,000 from this year’s event. The final total was far greater coming in at a whopping £9,694. Upon being asked why the event is held in the Northwest, Organiser Neil Livesey said, “I went to the Star Wars Convention in London about 15 years ago, I was blown away mostly to find there were other nerds like me who loved Star Wars and I thought I need to bring something like that to the North”. With other 1000 attendees this year and now a 15-year history in place it’s safe to say Neil has cemented this event in place for the North.
Having had a great day, I am looking forward to making this a yearly addition to my calendar.
A huge thank to Peter for taking the time to write his review.
We’d also like to add our congratulations to Neil Livesey and the team at Star Wars Fan Fun Day on such a successful event and the huge amount raised for charity.
