2019 Star Wars Celebration Chicago Panel Schedule Announced

Celebration Stage Schedule
Wintrust Arena

Hosted by Celebration fan-favorite actor Warwick Davis, the Celebration Stage will present not-to-be-missed productions, intimate conversations, and live events that Star Wars fans will be sure to add to their Celebration weekend plans.
DJ Elliott and Mark Daniel will get the stage rocking before every performance.

Thursday, April 11
No Stage Programing

Friday, April 12
11:00AM – 12:00PM

Star Wars: Episode IX
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages

1:30PM – 2:30PM
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series

4:00PM – 5:00PM
The Creatures, Droids & Aliens of Star Wars

Take a deep dive into the Pinewood Studios-based Star Wars creature shop, where Creative Supervisor Neal Scanlan and team designed and built every alien, beast and droid for this new era of Star Wars movies.

Saturday, April 13

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Life at Disney Parks

1:30PM – 2:30PM
The Galaxy-Wide Premiere of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

4:00PM – 5:00PM
Sisters of the Force, A Celebration of Women and Star Wars
Join moderator Ashley Eckstein and guests, Vanessa Marshall, Catherine Taber, Amy Ratcliffe and many others (including some surprises) for an incredibly inspiring, empowering and fun discussion!

Sunday, April 14

11:00AM – 12:00PM
The Mandalorian
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages
Learn about the perilous world of The Mandalorian with executive producer and writer Jon Favreau and executive producer and director Dave Filoni.

1:30PM – 2:30PM
In Conversation with Alan Tudyk

3:30PM – 4:30PM
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Sneak Peek
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Twin Suns Stage

Monday, April 15

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary Celebration
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy Stage

1:30PM – 2:30PM
Short Stories with Warwick Davis

3:30PM – 4:30PM
Celebration Chicago Closing Ceremony
Live on the Celebration, Galaxy, and StarWars.com Stages


Star Wars Galaxy Stage
Skyline Ballroom E&D, Level 3 West Building
The Galaxy Stage is hosted by Celebration veteran David W. Collins.

Some programs on the Celebration Stage will be streamed to the Galaxy Stage. We clear the Galaxy Stage after every performance.

Thursday, April 11
No Stage Programing

Friday, April 12

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Star Wars: Episode IX
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages

1:30-2:30pm
20 years of the LEGO Star Wars Story – A Retrospective and Forward Look

3:30pm-4:30pm
The Music of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace with David Collins

5:30-6:30pm
ILM Presents: Making Solo>
Rob Bredow, Academy Award nominee and VFX Supervisor for Solo: A Star Wars Story will share his personal stories and photos in this exclusive behind-the-scenes talk.

Saturday, April 13

10:45AM – 11:45PM
Droids and Animatronic Creatures of Star Wars
Join Matt Denton, Josh Lee and Lee Towersey as they discuss the challenges faced bringing complex droid and animatronic creatures from The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi and Solo to life.

12:45PM – 1:45PM
Star Wars Rebels Remembered

3:30PM – 4:30PM
Star Wars Cosplay Competition

5:30PM – 6:30PM
A Star Wars Let’s Play
Love classic Star Wars games like Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, or Star Wars Racer Revenge? Hosted by David Collins, join Star Wars special guests as they play their favorite Star Wars classics all while having a great time and answering audience questions along the way.

Sunday, April 14

11:00AM – 12:00PM
The Mandalorian
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages

1:15PM – 2:15PM
Doug Chiang: The Evolution of Star Wars Design – Designing Episode I

3:15PM – 4:15PM
ILM Model Shop: Building a Galaxy

b>Monday, April 15

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary Celebration
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy Stage

1:30PM – 2:50PM
Star Wars Resistance Season Two Sneak Peek
Join Star Wars Resistance Executive Producers Justin Ridge, Athena Portillo, Brandon Auman and special guests for a look back at the shocking season one finale and an exclusive preview of what’s to come!

3:30PM – 4:30PM
Celebration Chicago Closing Ceremony
Live on the Celebration and Galaxy Stages


Twin Suns Stage
W196ABC, Level 1 West Building

Celebration’s Twin Suns stage covers the ins and outs of what goes into creating the Star Wars universe, hosting guests who make it happen for the movies, television, toys, books, comics and more. Returning for her third Celebration hosting gig, but certainly not just her third Celebration, is Star Wars expert and host Amy Ratcliffe.

Thursday, April 13
No Programming

Friday, April 12

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Star Wars: Episode IX
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages

1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Star Wars Collectibles Update with Lucasfilm’s Brian Merten

3:00PM – 4:00PM
Star Wars Hasbro

4:45PM – 5:45PM
Lucasfilm Publishing Panel
Featuring Jeffrey Brown, Zorida Cordova, Delilah Dawson, Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, E.K. Johnston, Cavan Scott, Timothy Zahn, and more! Moderated by Lucasfilm’s Michael Siglain

6:30PM – 7:30PM
I’ll Take Droids for $500, Obi-Wan: An Intergalactic Game Show
We are inviting fans to test their Star Wars knowledge, competing head-to-head with their favorite Star Wars authors in categories like “Never tell me the odds”, “Going Solo”, “A Long Time Ago” and “Far, Far Away” and more, using audio clips from Star Wars audiobooks. Hosted by Marc Thompson. Prizes awarded!

Saturday, April 13

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Inside Fantasy Flight Games
Go behind the scenes with Fantasy Flight Games, creators of the world’s premier Star Wars board games, card games, collectible games, miniatures games, and roleplaying games! Here, you’ll get the chance to ask your own questions for Head of Studio Andrew Navaro, Visual Creative Director Brian Schomburg, Miniatures Game Manager John Shaffer, and Producer Molly Glover. You’ll also catch a glimpse of what FFG has planned next for X-Wing!

12:45PM – 1:45PM
Del Rey Behind the Scenes
Join authors Claudia Gray (Master & Apprentice; Bloodline), Timothy Zahn (The Thrawn Trilogy), Alexander Freed (Alphabet Squadron; Twilight Company), and Delilah S. Dawson (Black Spire; Phasma) as they discuss current projects and preview other books to come.

2:30PM – 3:30PM
Marvel Comics Presents: Star Wars
Join Marvel Comics writers Greg Pak (Star Wars: Age of Rebellion) and Ethan Sacks (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) and a host of other Mighty Marvel Guests in this can’t-miss panel! Greg Pak’s Age of Rebellion series spotlights the fan-favorites of the classic trilogy, while Sacks’ Galaxy’s Edge is the riveting comic series tie-in to the highly-anticipated theme park! Don’t miss your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the House of Ideas’ parsec of the Galaxy Far, Far Away – including a glimpse of what’s to come!

4:15PM – 5:15PM
Step Into Our Star Wars Stories: ILMxLAB

5:45PM – 6:45PM
Star Wars: The Force of Funko

Sunday, April 14

11:00AM – 12:00PM
The Mandalorian
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Galaxy and Twin Suns Stages

1:00PM – 2:00PM
Behind the Scenes of the Cantina
Go behind the scenes like never before as cantina expert and FX artist Tom Spina (Regal Robot, Tom Spina Designs) and stage host Amy Ratcliffe once again dive into the most wretched hive of scum and villainy with rare behind the scenes images, video and stories from geniuses who helped create everyone’s favorite Tatooine hang out!

3:30PM – 4:30PM
Star Wars: The Clone Wars/i> Sneak Peek
Live on the Celebration Stage; streamed to the Twin Suns Stage

5:30PM – 6:30PM
Into the Archives
Author Paul Duncan takes you into the Lucasfilm archives to show you how he researched and assembled images and texts for his book The Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV-VI, published by TASCHEN. Illustrated with concept art, storyboards, photos, script and production documents from Episodes IV, V and VI, Duncan will explain the working processes of both the main unit and ILM. The talk will include ideas that never made it into the book, including the timeline of Boba Fett’s creation. This is a unique opportunity to see previously unpublished materials. To quote Paul Duncan, “I cannot take people into the archives, so I want to bring the archives to them.”

Monday, April 15

10:30AM – 11:30AM
Lucasfilm Publishing: Writers Roundtable
Join all-star Star Wars authors Claudia Gray (Master & Apprentice; Bloodline), Justina Ireland (Lando’s Luck), Daniel José Older (Last Shot), Cavan Scott (Tales from Vader’s Castle, The Choose Your Destiny series), and Charles Soule (Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, Poe Dameron) as they discuss their approach, process, and reception to writing stories set in a galaxy far, far away. Plus, get some exclusive news into future Star Wars publishing! Moderated by Lucasfilm’s Michael Siglain.

12:15PM – 1:15PM
Star Wars Celebration Tattoo Competition
Presented by Marc Draven (Ink Fusion Empire), the competition will feature these categories: small/medium color, large color, small/medium black and grey, large black and grey and tattoo of the weekend, with awards created exclusively for Star Wars Celebration.

2:00PM – 3:00PM

Check the Celebration Show App for Updates!

3:45PM – 4:45PM

IDW Publishing: The Adventures Continue!
Come hear from the writers and artists of your favorite Star Wars Adventures tales—including Nick Brokenshire, Delilah Dawson, Tony Fleecs, Michael Moreci, and Cavan Scott.

Check out StarWars.com and StarWarsCelebration.com for more information