The 2012 Star Wars Day Bandung had come and gone and the crew had a great time geeking out with Indonesia’s Star Wars community. The turn-out wasn’t bad at all with people from all ages attending and showing their appreciation for one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all-time. This article will take a closer look at the event itself for those that wanted to go but couldn’t or for those that are just curious. So hold on to your hyperdrives folks, let’s take a ride.
As soon as we arrived at the venue, we immediately saw a Stormtrooper so we knew we were at the right place. Some members from the crew were more excited than others when they arrived because apparently they got lost trying to get to the venue, good for them! Anyway, the building itself wasn’t big, but neither was it small. Taking a deep breath, we got our gear together and stepped right in.
The first room after the entrance was a small rectangular one, showcasing a couple things. Directly to the right of the entrance was the Urban Jedi community booth showcasing their home-made lightsabers. These lightsabers would be used later in the afternoon for the Urban Jedi Lightsaber Academy Tournament (more on that later). Next to the Urban Jedi community booth was a small table showcasing helmet replicas of Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, and a Clone Trooper.
Making our way to the next room, we found ourselves in the main hallway; twice as large as the entrance room. On the left was a booth of The Yellow Dino, one of the sponsors of the Star Wars Day Bandung. The walls of the main hall were decorated with artworks and collectibles on all sides and fans were eagerly taking pictures of everything in sight. The center of the main hall was accentuated with a section dedicated to showcasing several Walkers.
At the end of the main hall, the path split into two. On the left side of the main hall was a room filled with artworks from various artists and a mini-theatre playing a Star Wars movie marathon starting from episode 1 to episode 6. On the right side of the hall was a room dedicated to merchants selling everything Star Wars or geek related merchandise from toys to sandals.
Also on the right side was another community booth called the Order 66 – S.I.T.H. (Star Wars Indonesian Troopers Homebase). Order 66 is the largest and most active unofficial Star Wars community in Indonesia. The community is non-profit and is based in Jakarta. They get together quite often and if you’re curious to find out more, you can read about them on their facebook page here.
After touring through the convention, the crew went to grab a semi-quick lunch and discussed about future plans for The Geeks Crew. We think this would also be a perfect time to officially introduce ourselves. Below you’ll see pictures of us talking, brainstorming and just having some fun. Unfortunately, one of our members couldn’t make it with us that day because he was on a business trip to Russia but he was there in spirit!
Dimas (left), Ismail (right)
- Wisha (left), Apri (right)
- Riva (left), Arya (right)
Bito (Off in Russia somewhere)
Moving on, after re-fueling our tanks we went back to the convention to watch the Urban Jedi Academy Lightsaber Tournament. Here, urban Jedis, Siths and even young Padawans dueled each other using their own home-made lightsabers or ones that the Urban Jedi provided. The tournament itself used a point based system similar to that of fencing. One participant in the tournament cosplaying as Princess Leia was particularly feisty; very aggressive yet equally graceful, she looked like a real Jedi the way she handled her lightsaber.
Princess Leia Cosplayer (right)
And that pretty much wraps up the 2012 Star Ways Day Bandung folks. We had a blast and it was a ton of fun to get together with Indonesia’s Star Wars community. We’ll definitely come again next year but until then, take care our fellow Star Wars geeks and may the Force be with you!
