I went to Star Wars Celebration for the first time and cosplayed as a clone trooper. Here are the best and worst things about the convention.

When it was announced that Star Wars Celebration was coming back to the UK for the first time since 2016, I knew I wanted to make the most of it. So, I rallied my two best friends who were also going, and we hatched a plan to celebrate in style.

A lot of cosplayers spend hours and hours creating screen-accurate outfits, which can be labor-intensive and also incredibly expensive, but we wanted to keep things cost-effective yet stylish. And after a little inspiration from "Star Wars" TikTok, I came up with the idea of wearing a black clone trooper helmet with a black shirt, tie, waistcoat, and pants.

This was relatively cheap, since the shirt, waistcoat, and tie only cost me around £35 altogether. Thank you, Primark. The most expensive part of the look was the clone trooper helmet, which we bought from Jordan's Armory on Etsy for £120 (including shipping).

It's worth pointing out that the 3D helmet came fully printed, painted, and with the visor inside, so I didn't have to do anything to it — and it looked perfect!

Granted, £155 is still a decent chunk of money to spend on an outfit like this, but this was pretty minimal considering there were other attendees in full armor with weapons, accessories, working lights, and sound effects.

Obviously, I tried the outfit on before Celebration, and I was pretty pleased with the whole look. It was comfortable, not too tight, and I could take the helmet off pretty easily if I needed some fresh air.

The weekend was packed with panels featuring appearances from the biggest stars in the galaxy far, far away as Lucasfilm and Disney announced a number of new projects. So, it's understandable that most fans want to be in the room for the big announcements.

Unfortunately, to attend major panels like the Lucasfilm showcase and for the various TV shows, fans had to enter into a lottery system to gain entry. Some people (me!) didn't get into any, which was disappointing, but it didn't ruin the weekend.

There's still plenty to see — like sets, costumes, and huge statues from the movies.

But the schedule was also packed with a number of fan-hosted panels that looked at a variety of topics. I checked out quite a few of these, including the "Star Wars English Class" podcast, which peeled back the literary structure of "A New Hope."

I also had my mind blown by scientists who debated how the Death Star would really work at a panel called "The Science of Return of the Jedi."

And we ended the weekend with the "Star Wars Sessions" boys, who brilliantly unpacked all the biggest news about the future of the franchise.

Granted, we still had to queue for a decent spot inside all of these panels, which was a little surprising. Some of the panels had huge queues, while others were easy to just walk straight into. Buffer time was a key tactic for us throughout the whole weekend.

So, if you're going to Star Wars Celebration 2025 in Japan, look out for more than just the big flashy panels. There will be some fascinating conversations happening elsewhere.

Although it was disappointing not to see the Lucasfilm show, the "Ahsoka" panel, or the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" panel, the Celebration Live Stage was a great way of actually getting to see the cast members who bring the galaxy far, far away to life.

The stage is where Lucasfilm/Disney live streams the convention to the rest of the world, with hosts talking to actors, directors, producers, and more in front of the audience for around 15 minutes.

We managed to see the likes of General Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor, Moff Gideon star Giancarlo Esposito, and Ahsoka Tano voice actor Ashley Eckstein just by watching the Live Stage, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on it.

We stood for nearly two hours watching various guests on Sunday, and my feet were killing me by the end of it. But it was worth it for the cool experience.

Thankfully, the convention releases the full schedule for the stage on its dedicated app, so attendees can figure out what time to get there.

Although we only spent one day in costume, it was definitely a little tiring walking around in the helmets.

The helmets are comfy enough, but they do block your peripheral vision more than you'd expect, so our spatial awareness wasn't as good as it should've been.

Granted, we were a little worse for wear after going to the "Star Wars Sessions" after-party the night before. (But it was worth it to hang out with "The Force Awakens" puppeteer Brian Herring, who told us some amazing stories about controlling BB-8 while shooting the sequel trilogy.)

So, by the afternoon, we were flagging a little, and as you can see, Twitch streamer Dan Hanson was definitely feeling the tiredness of the weekend.

But after a pit stop for a £10 tray of noodles and chicken, we were ready to dive into more of the merchandise stalls.

Okay, look, it's a convention — of course, things are going to be expensive. But some of the individual stalls took advantage of the fan footfall.

Everyone wants to come away with some kind of memento, a T-shirt, a mug, a hat, or even a life-size Grogu to snuggle. But nearly everything came with an eye-watering price tag.

On Saturday, we spotted a Funko figure of Grand Admiral Thrawn from "Star Wars Rebels," which was an exclusive release at Star Wars Celebration 2017, being sold for £600. (Fun fact, it was still there at the end of the weekend.)

The Celebration store itself was also pretty expensive, but that was to be expected (I couldn't resist getting my hands on the "Return of the Jedi" bomber jacket). But a £100 jacket is a little bit different from a £600 hunk of plastic.

Obviously, exclusive releases are a goldmine for toy collectors and sellers, but it just seemed excessive.

If you want to get into the Celebration store, get ready to queue. Because the shop sells exclusive toys, apparel, and other commemorative merchandise, there's a constant queue. It took me around 40-50 minutes to get in, which is time I could have spent elsewhere.

The event did offer "Lightspeed Lane reservations" in the weeks leading up to the weekend to give a limited number of fans a specific time slot to go shopping, but they were snapped up within minutes of going online, which was highly irritating.

Something I would have loved to do is take part in some of the photo opportunities with the various cast members throughout the weekend.

But to take a photo with "Obi-Wan Kenobi" star Ewan McGregor would've set me back £259.99 — and that price jumped up to £479.99 if I wanted a dual photo with McGregor and Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen. Ouch.

I completely understand why fans pay these prices to meet their heroes (and, hey, if I had a little more cash to splash...) but it's an awful lot of money for a 30-second photo opp.

Let's be honest, the "Star Wars" fandom has been problematic since the days of "The Phantom Menace," when many complained about Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) and Jake Lloyd's performance as a young Anakin Skywalker. And the less we say about the reaction to Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi," the better.

So, it was wonderfully surprising to step into the welcoming atmosphere at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

There was something so wholesome about the event, whether it was the shared excitement over all the news about future projects, or just general kindness to one another on the show floor.

Obviously, there were hundreds of fans in cosplay walking around the ExCel center, and there were so many impressive outfits that a lot of people were just in awe of how well-made the costumes were. (I congratulated someone dressed as Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin from "The Mandalorian" and got a stoic nod as a thank you.)

There were people bonding over each other's outfits, getting excited over what they'd bought on the show floor, or just simply chatting about the galaxy far, far away.

It was so refreshing to see such positive energy around "Star Wars" for once.

The final thing that surprised me was how warm it got in the ExCel.

There were obviously areas around the convention that were cooler than others, but the main strip that everyone had to walk through to get to each hall was toasty.

So, it would be a good idea to keep painkillers, water, and maybe deodorant if you're planning on suiting up as your favorite Jedi or Sith in the future.

But it was so much fun wandering around wearing the helmets and seeing other fans get a kick out of our costume, as well as posing for photos in front of the various "Star Wars" sets that were dotted around the convention.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. It was a great day.

But on a practical level, I'd still prefer a subtler/easier costume to put together than an outfit that requires its own suitcase for all the various pieces.

That's nothing against cosplayers who want to pull off stunning costumes, but I didn't fancy carrying a full suit of Mandalorian armor across London with me. (Beskar's pretty heavy, don't you know.)

Star Wars Celebration 2025 will take place at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, so you've got plenty of time to figure out your cosplay plans. It's also a huge center, like the ExCel, so make sure you take comfy shoes.

May the Force be with you.