Jedi worshippers and fans of George Lucas's sci-fi mega-franchise celebrated the unofficial Star Wars Day, May 4.
The origin of the day comes from "May the 4th be with you" a play on the films' well known catchphrase, "May the force be with you".
Despite not being an officially sanctioned Star Wars Day this hasn't stopped fans spreading the message across the world with May 4 even immortalised in the Hansard of the UK Houses of Parliament.
Last year, two Star Wars-loving Englishmen attempted to start a UK Church of the Jedi, with May 4th as their holy day, citing the 2001 British census results which saw 390,000 people claim `Jedi' as their religion.
In Australia, the official number of Jedis from the 2001 census are unknown as the Australian Bureau of Statistics records people who mark `Jedi' as `no religion'.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics even warned people about writing `Jedi' as their faith on the 2001 Census, warning that falsifying census documents attracts a $1000 fine and marking `Jedi' could lead to lower funding for other religious charities.
In 2002 the Sydney Morning Herald reported 70,509 people labelled themselves 'Jedi' on the 2001 Census.
Activities for May 4 are diverse, with one Star Wars blog recommending fans obsessively repeat Star Wars quotes to their friends, join the 501st Legion (a Storm trooper re-creation association), destroy a Death Star and of course watch all six films.
The only official Star Wars Day was declared by The Los Angeles City Council and is set on May 25th, the date the original Star Wars film premiered in 1977.
May the 4th be with you.
Source - http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/may-the-4th-be-with-you-20090504-as1q.html
The origin of the day comes from "May the 4th be with you" a play on the films' well known catchphrase, "May the force be with you".
Despite not being an officially sanctioned Star Wars Day this hasn't stopped fans spreading the message across the world with May 4 even immortalised in the Hansard of the UK Houses of Parliament.
Last year, two Star Wars-loving Englishmen attempted to start a UK Church of the Jedi, with May 4th as their holy day, citing the 2001 British census results which saw 390,000 people claim `Jedi' as their religion.
In Australia, the official number of Jedis from the 2001 census are unknown as the Australian Bureau of Statistics records people who mark `Jedi' as `no religion'.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics even warned people about writing `Jedi' as their faith on the 2001 Census, warning that falsifying census documents attracts a $1000 fine and marking `Jedi' could lead to lower funding for other religious charities.
In 2002 the Sydney Morning Herald reported 70,509 people labelled themselves 'Jedi' on the 2001 Census.
Activities for May 4 are diverse, with one Star Wars blog recommending fans obsessively repeat Star Wars quotes to their friends, join the 501st Legion (a Storm trooper re-creation association), destroy a Death Star and of course watch all six films.
The only official Star Wars Day was declared by The Los Angeles City Council and is set on May 25th, the date the original Star Wars film premiered in 1977.
May the 4th be with you.
Source - http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/may-the-4th-be-with-you-20090504-as1q.html
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