Jar Jar Jam was an off-site concert and dance event held on Saturday, May 1, 1999, during Star Wars Celebration I. The event ran from 9:00 p.m. to midnight at the Temple Events Center in Denver and featured Ahmed Best, who portrayed Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. DJ K-Nee also appeared.

The event was separately ticketed, with admission limited to 650 tickets. Tickets were branded with Star Wars Insider and Lucasfilm Ltd. logos and listed the event as “Jar Jar Jam with Ahmed Best.” The event gave Celebration attendees a late-night gathering away from the main convention site, combining live music, dancing, costumed fans and appearances by members of the Episode I cast and production team.

Ahmed Best performed with a band in a set that lasted roughly 75 minutes and moved through hip-hop, rock and dance music. Best opened with a human beatbox version of John Williams’ Star Wars theme before the band began playing. The event drew about 400 attendees, many of them in costume, including stormtroopers, Boba Fett costumers, Princess Leia costumers and Darth Vader.

Ray Park, who played Darth Maul, introduced Best and the band at the start of the show. Park later joined the energy of the event himself, rapping and breakdancing during the night. Best also rapped on stage, turning the event into a loose cast-and-fan party rather than a standard convention appearance.

Several Episode I figures attended, including Jake Lloyd, Madison Lloyd, Pernilla August, Rick McCallum and Lucasfilm public relations chief Lynne Hale. Near the end of the performance, Best brought McCallum onstage and led the crowd in a chant of “Go Ricky, go Ricky, go!”

Jar Jar Jam became one of the more unusual special events from Celebration I. While much of the weekend centered on panels, exhibits, autograph sessions and early promotion for The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar Jam gave fans a more informal after-hours experience built around music, dancing and direct interaction with people connected to the new film. Its small capacity, off-site venue and late-1990s prequel-era atmosphere have made it one of the more memorable oddities from the first Star Wars Celebration.