Online registration for Star Wars Celebration II was scheduled to begin in November 2001. The official FAQ stated that online registration would be processed in real time, with immediate confirmation. Fans could also register by mail or fax by requesting a registration form by phone. Mail and fax confirmations were sent by postal mail and could take two to three weeks.

Celebration II offered both full-event and single-day admission. Children 5 and under were admitted free with an adult. For ticketing purposes, child admission applied to ages 6 through 12.

As a precursor to the modern Jedi Master VIP ticket tier, members of The Official Star Wars Fan Club received a special badge lanyard and several event perks at Star Wars Celebration II.

Benefits included:

• One-hour early access to the Exhibit Hall and Star Wars Celebration II Store
• A head start on celebrity signings, merchandise and other popular offerings
• Limited seating at select special events, including the Opening Ceremony
• Access to a private Fan Club lounge in the convention center’s VIP room

The lounge featured video monitors, a concessions stand and message boards to help members meet up with friends.

Star Wars 25th Anniversary Concert

The Star Wars 25th Anniversary Concert: Music from the Saga was a special ticketed event held during Star Wars Celebration II on Saturday, May 4, 2002, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The concert began at 8:30 p.m. and was presented as part of the convention’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of Star Wars.

Tickets for the concert were sold separately from general Celebration II admission for $12 each. According to the event announcement, tickets were available to Celebration II attendees beginning Friday, May 3, at ticket booths near the registration area inside the convention center. The ticket itself was also promoted as a souvenir item for attendees.

The concert was performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis, joined by the Circle City Chorus. Anthony Daniels, who served as master of ceremonies for Celebration II, also hosted the concert. The Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis later described the performance as part of the international celebration of the 25th anniversary of Star Wars and noted that it was presented to an audience of approximately 3,000 people.

The program featured music from the first four released Star Wars films, including the original trilogy and The Phantom Menace. Reported selections included the main title from A New Hope, “The Imperial March,” “The Asteroid Field,” “Duel of the Fates,” the throne room music and end credits from A New Hope, and the end credits from The Phantom Menace. The Circle City Chorus reportedly joined the orchestra for “Duel of the Fates.” Music from Attack of the Clones, which had not yet been released in theaters, was not included in the program.

The presentation also included costumed appearances tied to the music, including Darth Vader and stormtroopers during “The Imperial March.” R2-D2 also appeared as part of the evening’s festivities. Surviving ticket materials list Klipsch, Lucasfilm Ltd., the Official Star Wars Fan Club and Wizards of the Coast among the organizations associated with the event.

Star Wars Celebration II’s show floor filled the Indianapolis Convention Center with archive pieces, fan-built environments, costuming, droids, licensed merchandise displays, collector tables and hands-on activities. The floor leaned heavily into the upcoming release of Attack of the Clones while still giving fans plenty of original trilogy props, costumes and characters to gather around.

Lucasfilm Archive Display

The Lucasfilm Archive Display gave attendees a close look at costumes, props and production material from the five Star Wars films released at the time. The display included ornate Padmé Amidala gowns, alien masks, weapons, Jedi lightsabers and other pieces from across the saga.

A full-size Jedi Starfighter was also displayed at the convention, adding one of the larger prequel-era set pieces to the show floor. Alongside the archive cases and costume displays, it helped give Celebration II a stronger visual presence beyond the dealer tables and merchandise booths.

Mos Eisley Diorama Builders Workshop

The Mos Eisley Diorama Builders Workshop was one of the most substantial fan-created spaces at Celebration II and marked Diorama Builders’ first appearance at a Star Wars Celebration. Led by Frank Diorio of NiubNiub’s Universe, the workshop invited attendees to help build a large 3.75-inch-scale Mos Eisley scene across the weekend.

The project began as an arts-and-crafts experiment approved by Lucasfilm’s Mary Franklin and grew into a busy hands-on activity. Fans helped create buildings, walls, street details and other pieces that were assembled into a finished Tatooine city display by the end of the convention. Diorio also displayed finished dioramas such as Leia’s Plans and Blastshield Training, while Joe Amaro’s Jedi Council diorama was also shown.

R2-D2 Builders Room and Droid Parade

The R2-D2 Builders had a dedicated room at Celebration II with fan-built astromechs, builder banners, project information and related droid displays. Attendees could see completed R2 units up close, along with other droid builds and works in progress.

The group also organized an R2-D2 parade on Sunday. Don Bies, who worked with R2-D2 during the original trilogy era, appeared with the screen-used “real R2,” making the room one of the more memorable fan-engineering spaces at the convention.

Fan Costuming and 501st Presence

Costuming was a major part of the Celebration II atmosphere. Jedi, stormtroopers, bounty hunters, Royal Guards, Jawas, pilots and other characters moved throughout the convention center, giving the floor the feel of a fan-built Star Wars gathering as much as an official event.

The 501st Legion had a visible presence throughout the weekend, including group photos and costumed appearances around the venue. A costume contest was also part of the event, with enough fan interest that later Celebrations expanded costume programming even further.

LEGO Builds and Large Photo Ops

LEGO had one of the more visual licensed areas on the floor, with large Endor and Geonosis dioramas, conceptual models and a short LEGO film called The Han Solo Affair. The centerpiece was a 10-foot Yoda sculpture built over the course of the weekend, ending with a lightsaber lighting ceremony on Sunday.

Other oversized pieces and photo opportunities included a Millennium Falcon backdrop, large character standees and prequel-era displays. These pieces gave fans places to gather, take photos and spend time between programming.

Hasbro and Licensed Merchandise Displays

Hasbro’s booth was one of the major licensed attractions at Celebration II. The space featured two-sided metal display cases, large screens, product demonstrations, Saga-era figure displays, an Interactive R2-D2 area and a giant action figure card photo setup where attendees could pose as if packaged inside a toy blister card.

Hasbro also gave out Saga 2002 action figure posters and hosted sculpting demonstrations with David Vennemeyer, giving collectors a closer look at how future figures were developed. Dark Horse Comics and Gentle Giant showed early Star Wars mini busts, including Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, Jango Fett, Count Dooku, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Rubies displayed costumes and masks, including Jango Fett and a life-size Attack of the Clones Yoda statue.

Floor Presence

The show floor featured major official licensees such as Hasbro, LEGO, LucasArts, Dark Horse Comics and Gentle Giant, Rubies Costume Co., DK Publishing, Del Rey Books, Scholastic, Topps, Master Replicas, Sony Classical, Frito-Lay, Australia Post, Advanced Graphics, Pin USA, Trends International, Cedco Publishing, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Rawcliffe, Fernandes Guitars and The Anthony Grandio Company.

Collector and exhibitor booths included Brian’s Toys, Toy Anxiety, Art of Ralph McQuarrie, Off World Designs, Intergalactic Trading Co., Anakin’s Toy Box, Tatooine Toys, Chronicle Books, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, TheForce.net and Ultarama, The Swordmark Company, Federation Toys, Toy Heaven, Card Haus, Cincinnati Sci-Fi, Hollywood Heroes, Reel Memories, Cards, Inc., That’s Entertainment, Neat Stuff Collectibles, Psycho Candy, Collector Books, Lost in a Vacuum Toys, White Owl Collectibles, Heroes, Pegasus Publishing, Sci Fi Realm, Crystal Castle, Cool Stuff, Nostalgic Nook, Rolling Thunder, Lora’s Non Sports Cards / Brick By Brick Design, The Falcon’s Hanger, Inc. and Sorry! No Subtitles / Scot Soeder.

Hasbro produced Commander Jorg Sacul as the exclusive action figure for Star Wars Celebration II. The 3.75-inch figure depicted George Lucas as a Rebel pilot and was released in the 2002 Star Wars Saga line to mark the 25th anniversary of Star Wars. It sold at the Celebration Store for $10 and quickly became the convention’s most sought-after exclusive.

Demand for the figure was high before the event, with pre-release resale listings already reaching well above the original price. At the convention, the figure was limited to two per person, but the store struggled to enforce the limit. Reports from the event described long lines, attendees cycling through purchase queues and dealers offering to buy figures from fans immediately after purchase. Stock planned for later in the weekend was sold early, and the figure was reportedly sold out by Sunday morning, leaving many attendees unable to buy one.

For many fans, Star Wars Celebration II felt thrilling, overwhelming and deeply personal. Compared to the more rough-edged, weather-plagued Celebration I in Denver, Celebration II brought Star Wars fandom into a more organized indoor convention setting with the scale of a true destination event. Attendees had access to panels, props, autograph lines, collector spaces, fan club areas and costumed photo ops, all surrounded by thousands of people who cared just as much.

The timing made the weekend feel even bigger. Celebration II landed during the 25th anniversary of Star Wars and just days before Attack of the Clones opened in theaters. Pre-release footage, especially the glimpse of Yoda in action, created the kind of room-wide reaction fans still remembered years later.

The autograph area was another major draw, with Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Jeremy Bulloch, Warwick Davis and other Star Wars actors appearing in one place. At the same time, the weekend was often defined by long waits. Fans stood in lines for badges, merchandise, autographs, panels and concert tickets, sometimes for hours. Carrie Fisher’s autograph line became especially legendary, while the Commander Jorg Sacul figure caused frustration as daily allotments disappeared and resellers added to the chaos.

That mix of excitement and strain became part of the event’s identity. Celebration II gave fans rare access, shared anticipation and a clear sense that Star Wars fandom had grown into something massive. It also showed that the convention was still learning how to handle that demand.

The legacy of Star Wars Celebration II is that it helped define what Celebration would become. The first Celebration in Denver proved that fans would gather around Star Wars on a large scale. Celebration II proved that the event could become a recurring pillar of the franchise, with major panels, exclusive merchandise, organized autograph programming, fan films, costuming groups, collectors, official previews and a full convention culture built around Star Wars.

It also helped set expectations for future Celebrations. Some of those expectations were positive: fans wanted big reveals, anniversary programming, celebrity guests, exclusive merchandise and spaces where fan communities could be seen. Other expectations came from frustration. Badge pickup, store access, line control, autograph management and crowd flow all became obvious areas for improvement. In that sense, Celebration II was both a success and a stress test.

The event also strengthened the relationship between Lucasfilm and organized fan communities. Groups like the 501st Legion gained visibility, fan films received official recognition and collectors were treated as a major part of the Celebration audience. The convention helped bring several corners of fandom into the same physical space, giving costumers, collectors, filmmakers, autograph hunters and everyday fans a shared home.

Its timing added to its significance. Celebration II sat between the original trilogy’s 25th anniversary and the release of Attack of the Clones, right in the middle of the prequel era’s most intense fan debate and excitement. That gives the event a specific place in Star Wars history. It captured fandom before social media reshaped convention culture, when online communities were growing quickly but the in-person experience still felt rare and hard-won.

Looking back, Celebration II feels formative because it contained so many elements that later became standard, while still carrying the rough edges of an event finding its footing. It was crowded, imperfect, emotional and ambitious. For fans who were there, it became a benchmark. For the Celebration brand, it became the point where the modern version of the event started to take shape.