George Lucas must be one of the jammiest geezers in the world ever; not only did Star Wars manage to make a load of money at the box office when released, but it also secured him a career for the next 40 years, with a nice golden handshake from Disney at the end of it. On top of this, he also inadvertently created one day a year where people would celebrate his film, and therefore line his pockets even further so he can buy new lumberjack shirts and Gillette razors for his beard line. Welcome everyone to May the 4th, and there’s plenty of stuff going on around Manchester if you feel like celebrating.
Star Wars Quiz @ Jimmy’s
Cruise on down to Newton Street’s Jimmy’s on the 4th and you can get involved in their brilliant Star Wars Quiz to give yourself a chance to show off your skills and knowledge. If you can tell the difference between Wicket the Ewok and a midget in a sheepskin then you have a good chance at winning some lovely booze and other ‘mystery’ prizes. I’m going to assume that these prizes are a mystery because Jimmy has been too busy to go out to M&S and pick something up. It’s a quid per head with 4 players max per team.
May 4th, 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Jimmy’s, 12 Newton Street, Manchester, M1 2AN
0161 923 6964
Reserve your table now via www.jimmysnq.com
Fab Cafe Star Wars Party @ Fab Cafe
The geekiest, most nerd orientated decked out place in Manchester; Fab Cafe, will be hosting a rather large Star Wars party on the 4th complete with their very own Stormtrooper, Darth Maul and loads of other Star Wars related happenings. There is a prize for the best fancy dress, so if you’ve got time, get your sewing machine out, shave your dog and get practising your Chewbacca growl. They also promise lots of party games and Star Wars prizes throughout the night, which should be a lot of fun. Not to mention that they have an N64 in there and if they don’t have that Pod Racer game for it – they’ve missed a trick big time. Head on down from 9pm and if you get a flyer off their Stormtrooper – they’ll sort you out with a free shot.
May 4th, 9pm – 2am
Fab Cafe, 109 Portland Street, M1 6DN
0161 212 2997
www.fabcafe.co.uk/
17 Below
Okay so they might not have any Star Wars arcade machines in here – which is a bit of a shame because that wireframe one where you are shooting Tie Fighters from 1983 is brilliant. What they do have though is a collection of other arcade games with which you can enjoy yourself with, all packed up in a decidedly 80’s environment – evoking those heady days when The Empire Strikes Back was top of the box office and Yoda was a household celebrity. Grab yourself a Gingerbread cocktail, head straight to Space Invaders and have a friend sing the Star Wars theme tune in your ear as you blast those idiot aliens away. The arcades are free, so you can go all night in this fashion quite easily.
17 Below, 17 Bow Ln, Manchester M2 4FW, UK
www.17below.com/
Star Wars Quiz @ Abel Heywood
The last time they had a Star Wars Quiz at Abel Heywood I came joint first with another team. My knowledge of Star Wars is in fact amazing, and I easily coasted through the various rounds and taxing questions to end up at the top of the pile. However, so did some other chump. For the tie-breaker question we were asked “How many times bigger is the Second Death Star compared to the first?” First correct answer wins. After some embarrassing shouting and swearing I lost – with the revelation that the 2nd one is 125x bigger. I was disappointed and a little perplexed – that sounded massive. Well Abel Heywood, I’ve just Googled it and it’s a third bigger so you owe me a bottle of something please. The quiz this year starts at 8pm – probably best to book.
May 4th, 8pm – 10pm
Abel Heywood, 38 Turner Street, Manchester, M4 1DZ
0161 819 1441
Tickets here
Jedi Lightsaber Fitness @ David Lloyd
It must be said that the typical Star Wars fan; the kind of overweight bloke that you’d find in his mum’s cellar, playing Risk and annoying girls online would definitely not be the kind of fella to go to the gym. But we all know that this stereotype is absolute Bantha-tosh, and none more so than the folks over at David Lloyd gym in Trafford who have come up with a fantastic idea for Star Wars Day – Lightsaber Training. They’ve got 4 sessions throughout the day where you can learn to fight with the legendary Jedi weapon, while also getting a bit fit.
David Lloyd Club, Barton Embankment, Manchester, M17 8RH
0345 129 6806
Forbidden Planet
If you’ve got a fair few quid tucked away in your Jedi Bath Robe and you want to buy some Star Wars memorabilia then head on down to Forbidden Planet on Oldham Street for the city’s best collection of Sci-Fi and fantasy goods, with a fantastic selection of Star Wars figures, comics, books, posters, models and costumes – enough to make that Comic Book Guy in The Simpsons very happy indeed. I’m sure the guys in here will be celebrating Star Wars Day in some fashion – perhaps if you’re extra nice to them they will throw in some Star Wars tat for free – or use a Jedi mind trick on them.
Forbidden Planet, 65 Oldham St, Piccadilly, Manchester M1 1JR, UK
0161 839 4777
www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/
Electoral Mayor Vote
Tomorrow marks not only Star Wars Day but something much more important – the cities first Mayoral election, and regardless of whether you think Andy Burnham is going to walk it or not, you should definitely get yourself out and vote. There’s plenty of scope for me to belt out some serious biting political satire here in relation to the Galactic Empire but as long as you don’t vote for a bloke called Palpatine – we should be fine.
