Welcome to SWC Archive!

Hello there! And welcome to SWC Archive, a project I’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time putting together, all in the name of preserving the history of the world’s greatest gathering of Star Wars nerds.

I’m glad you’re here. Especially if you arrived after Googling something absurdly specific about a convention that happened twenty years ago. You’re exactly my kind of person.

A little history about this history project

My first Star Wars Celebration was Celebration III in Indianapolis back in 2005. I was a teenager who was so embarrassed about going to a Star Wars convention that my best friend and I told everyone at school we were going on “vacation.” To Indianapolis. In April.

That weekend changed everything. I found my people, embraced my nerdiness, and started what would become a lifelong love affair with Star Wars Celebration.

Fast-forward more than twenty years and over a dozen Celebrations later, and I noticed something troubling. My own memories of those weekends were starting to fade, and so were the websites, schedules, photos, and fan blogs that documented them.

So I did what any perfectly reasonable person would do: I spent nine months digging through old convention programs, defunct websites, and thousands of Wayback Machine captures to piece together the most comprehensive record of Star Wars Celebration history I could manage.

And here we are!

What’s in the Archive?

The heart of SWC Archive is a growing collection of Celebration history, covering everything from panels and special events to guest appearances, ticket prices, autograph sessions, and photo ops.

Want to know who appeared at Celebration IV? What a ticket cost in 1999? Which panels you missed while waiting in another line? I’ve spent a frankly concerning amount of time trying to track down the answers.

I’ve also put together historical data and comparisons to see how Celebration has changed over the years. Some of it is genuinely fascinating. Some of it is the sort of information that makes you question how I spend my free time.

What to expect from the blog

The Archive is only the beginning. Going forward, I’ll be using this blog to cover the latest Star Wars Celebration news, announcements, ticketing updates, exclusive merchandise previews, and whatever else deserves a closer look.

With Celebration returning to Los Angeles in 2027, there’s plenty to talk about.

I’ll also be building practical guides to help you navigate future Celebrations, drawing on my experiences attending almost every American Celebration since 2005, plus one in Japan. From planning your trip to surviving the inevitable lines, I’ve learned a few things over the years that have made every Celebration experience I’ve had a positive one!

And because I can’t help myself, expect the occasional deep dive into some obscure corner of Celebration history, long-forgotten merch, or a mystery that’s been bothering me for entirely too long.

I’ll do my best to separate the facts from the rumors, share what I’ve learned, and hopefully save you a little time in line.

“Perhaps the archives are incomplete…?”

I am no Jocasta Nu, as much as I’ve tried to make SWC Archive comprehensive and accurate, I can admit that there’s only so much one amateur fandom archivist can uncover. Some information has disappeared into the internet’s abyss, and I’m certain I’ve missed a few things along the way.

That’s where you come in. If you have old programs, photographs, schedules, stories, or corrections, I’d love to hear from you. Some of the best historical records exist because fans bothered to save things that nobody else thought were worth keeping.

Ultimately, I hope this site becomes a place where longtime Celebration veterans can revisit their favorite memories, newcomers can get excited about what’s ahead, and the history of this wonderfully nerdy gathering can live on.

So have a look around, explore the archives, and make yourself at home.

And if you happen to spot a missing planet, do let me know.