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Unless you are currently in a coma, you know what today is. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now, finally, in theaters. If you aren’t in line right now, you’re probably not even on the Internet, for fear of spoilers from the people who got a sneak peek last week. Star Wars fans around the world are celebrating the return of one of the most beloved and marketable movie franchises in history, and New York City is going that much further. So before or after you become reunited with the Force, check out these seven events celebrating the seventh Star Wars film.
We won’t find too surprising if we see many people dressing up as their favorite Star Wars characters this weekend. While some people put a lot of effort and time to make their costumes look amazing, there is just something about seeing the real thing. In Star Wars and The Power of Costume Exhibition, currently on display inside Discovery Times Square, you have the opportunity in seeing authentic costumes from all seven Star Wars movies.
There are over 70 hand-crafted costumes in all, ranging from the gown worn by Queen Amidala in the prequels, to Darth Vader’s iconic black suit. You can also can take a picture with BB8, the newest droid to appear in the Star Wars universe. This could be your last chance to see these iconic costumes in person, before Lucas puts them back in the vault.
Whether you first watched Star Wars when at age five, or 25, the first time you saw what a lightsaber (the signature Jedi weapon), you wanted one. While science has failed to make an actual lightsaber, toy companies have made lightsabers that look pretty damn close to reality.
Now having a lightsaber is awesome, but you can’t really live out your Jedi fantasies, unless you have another person with a lightsaber to fight. So while you can’t bring your custom made lightsaber to the theater, you can bring it with you to Washington Square Park for the latest NYC Lightsaber Battle.
This year the event is fan run, so it’s BYOL (bring your own lightsaber). The theme for this battle is the Battle of Hoth, the iconic battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance on the ice planet Hoth, in The Empire Strikes Back.
Perhaps you want to avoid the crowds, but still want to celebrate this wonderful day. Well, before you ditch the crowds and hit a weekday matinee, you can marathon the first six movies. Just you, the television and a four-pack of special edition Ample Hills Star Wars Ice Cream.
In what is perhaps the most local marketing tie-in for this blockbuster, Ample Hills has created original creations. The Light Side, marshmallow ice cream with homemade crispie clusters and The Dark Side, dark chocolate ice cream with espresso fudge brownies and white chocolate pearls.
We suggest going down the middle, mashing the two together.
Even though the only thing on our minds is Star Wars, let’s not forget that Christmas is next week. A Christmas tradition is sitting by the fireplace and watching the Yule Log burn. Well, we live in New York City, so the closest thing most of us have to an actual fireplace is the radiator that makes too much noise at night. Instead of that traditional Yule Log that show on TV every year, why don’t you cozy up with your Ample Hills Ice Cream and watch this version created by YouTube user Benjamin Apple.
Five hours of Darth Vaders Norse funeral. The perfect thing for this weekend and every holiday weekend from now till the next Star Wars release, next year and every year after that.
The perfect gift to the Han Solo in your life. You can head over to any of the three Build-a-Bear locations in the city, to get yourself another piece of memorabilia to add to your ever growing collection. You have the options of getting bears made to look like everyone’s favorite Wookie, Chewbacca. Or you can get ones that look like Darth Vader and, of course, BB8.
During your Star Wars marathon, maybe you want to have yourself a nice drink to take the edge off as you watch Luke try to take down the Empire. There is no Star Wars related beer, however, The Daily Dot has a nice list of Star Wars themed cocktails you can create inbetween installments, or while the text at the beginning of each Star Wars movie shows up on screen.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the biggest cultural moments in recent memory. So, obviously, someone in Williamsburg is using it as his or her chance to put up random things around the neighborhood. This first appeared yesterday morning, outside the Bedford Ave. stop in Williamsburg. We found out that, whoever this is, has been posting these kinds of messages all over the city. @DarksideNYC is only saying what we all go through living in New York City and dealing with everything from man-spreading to $4 coffees.
Next, check out the Film Locations for Master of None, Jessica Jones or Gotham.
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