3 ways Disneyland can add some holiday spirit to the new Star Wars: Galaxys Edge – The Mercury News

There is no Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Diwali in a galaxy far, far away, but that doesnt mean Star Wars: Galaxys Edge cant get into the holiday spirit like the rest of Disneyland.

A faithful allegiance to the backstory of the Star Wars universe means the new 14-acre Galaxys Edge looks like it does every day of the year during the current two-month-long holiday season at the Anaheim theme park. But theres no reason the Black Spire Outpost village on the Star Wars planet of Batuu cant celebrate the holidays.

Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm created the new Star Wars planet specifically for the new lands in Disneyland and Disneys Hollywood Studios in Florida. The creative team could also just as easily establish new holiday traditions for Black Spire Outpost or adopt seasonal celebrations for Batuu from other planets in the Star Wars galaxy.

So what can Disneyland do to bring more holiday spirit to Star Wars: Galaxys Edge? Weve got three suggestions for making the season brighter in the new themed land.

Most Star Wars fans are familiar with Life Day through the delightfully bad 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. Chewbacca and Han Solo spent time with the Wookiees family during Life Day on the television show. The new Mandalorian series on Disney+ calls out Life Day in the opening episode.

Life Day traces its roots back to the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk. The holiday celebrates the life-giving and life-affirming powers of the Tree of Life, according to StarWars.com. During the Life Day holiday season, Wookiees dressed in traditional red robes gather around a trimmed tree and exchange gifts with relatives.

The annual celebration is filled with fireworks, festive music and holiday treats like Wookiee-ookiees and Hoth chocolate. Figrin Dan and the Modal Nodes, the alien house band from the Mos Eisley cantina in the original Star Wars movie, has been known to play special Life Day concerts.

Life Day would be a natural fit for Galaxys Edge. Black Spire Outpost is named for the petrified trees that dot the village. A young tree growing in the middle of the spaceport represents rebirth and new life. It would make perfect sense for Chewie to introduce the Kashyyyk holiday to Batuu.

Life Day music and foods could bring the seasonal Wookiee celebration to Galaxys Edge for the holidays. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run could mix in a mission that takes Chewie back to Kashyyyk in time for Life Day. How exciting would it be to have the Modal Nodes play a holiday concert in Ogas Cantina?

Several planets in the Star Wars galaxy celebrate some version of a Harvest Festival or something similar to Thanksgiving.

Jar-Jar Binks and the Gungans on the Star Wars planet of Naboo give thanks to their deities on Munchen, a special day also known as the Sacred Feast or Great Feast.

The Ewoks are always looking for any excuse to throw a party on the forest moon of Endor. The teddy bear-like hunter-gatherers have a Harvest Festival and a Harvest Moon Feast. An Ewok feast favorite: Rainbow Berry Pie.

The annual Harvest Day festival in Mos Eisley on Luke Skywalkers home planet of Tatooine marks the years water harvest by the areas moisture farmers.

Hosnian Prime, the capital of the New Republic, celebrates the beginning of Autumn with sunsail races on Equinox Day.

A Batuu Harvest Festival would be perfect for Galaxys Edge.

Black Spire Outpost is the central meeting place for area ranchers and farmers to sell their goods to local residents, according to the backstory for the Star Wars themed lands. Galaxys Edge has a Blue Milk stand surrounded by moisture evaporators and a restaurant that receives shipments of seasonal foods from throughout the galaxy. It would make sense for Batuu to have an annual Harvest Festival that added a larger Thanksgiving presence to the holiday season celebrations at Disneyland.

Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo could offer a Harvest Festival feast for a limited time. Ronto Roasters could sell an Oktoberfest-inspired sausage sandwich. The Milk Stand could pour a Fall flavor of Blue Milk in a seasonal souvenir sipper. Kat Sakas Kettle could make a Harvest Caramel Corn. Imagine the lines for holiday exclusive Ewok Rainbow Berry Pie?

The Coruscant calendar includes three Fete Weeks that mark celebrations throughout the year, according to StarWars.com.

The New Years Fete stretches for a week at the start of the year. The Festival of Light is filled with presents and parties. The Festival of Stars celebrating the birth of interstellar space travel is the galaxys prime vacation period.

The Festival of Light pays homage to the Star Wars planet of Naboo joining the Galactic Republic with fireworks and holographic displays. The Ewoks celebrate their own Light Festival which honors the Tree of Light that keeps the Night Spirit away.

Any one of the Fete Weeks or all three, for that matter could serve as a basis for a Winter Carnival in Black Spire Outpost celebrating the winter equinox. The Festival of Light could incorporate lightsaber training for young padawans similar to the former Jedi Training Academy in Tomorrowland. The Festival of Stars could add a John Williams symphonic score to the nightly fireworks show over Galaxys Edge. A Winter Fete parade could march through the streets of Black Spire Outpost throughout the holiday season.

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3 ways Disneyland can add some holiday spirit to the new Star Wars: Galaxys Edge - The Mercury News