LONDON—“Star Wars” has the greatest fandom of all. This is the first thought that will occur to you when you arrive at Star Wars Celebration Europe.

 

Every franchise or property has its rabid followers, and there are conventions for them all over the world and all over the calendar. But there is no fan event dedicated to a single franchise as big or as powerful as this one.

 

This year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe packed the massive London ExCel Exhibition Centre from July 15 to 17. A crowd of over 60,000 “Star Wars” fans came in full regalia, with geek flags flying high.

 

It’s hard to express in words the sight of so many people in costume at one event. While most of the attendees wore “Star Wars” T-shirts (can there be a franchise with more T-shirt designs?), many were dressed as characters from the “Star Wars” properties.

 

Of course, there were many, many Stormtroopers, expectedly more here than at any other event. There were

Jedi, Sith Lords, bounty hunters, rebel pilots, droids, even a Hutt or two (seriously, in the elevator).

 

There were many cosplayers who wore a different costume for each of Celebration’s three days. Now that’s devotion. The costumes ranged from the store-bought to the homemade, from the outstanding to the ridiculous, but all of them very much in the outsized spirit of the event.

 

Diversity

 

Part of what makes the “Star Wars” fandom so great is its diversity, and that was visible at Celebration. There were many more women, children and people with disabilities here than at any other event, most of them in costume.

 

There were sights, however brief, that struck. Take, for example, the two Muslim girls in their hijabs dressed as Jedi, complete with lightsabers.

 

In fact, there were so many lightsabers—sticking out of backpacks or being wielded absentmindedly while walking—that the hosts probably should have put up “Beware of lightsabers” signs.

 

Many of the younger children were dressed as either Yoda or Ewoks. Stormtroopers came in all sizes and styles. You could come as a character of another gender as easily as you could another species. There were tiny Darth Vaders and human-sized BB-8s.

 

So many languages were being spoken inside the Excel Exhibition Centre at the same time by fans from around the world, that it felt like the Galactic Senate in session, with London as Coruscant amid chatter from delegates as far afield as Alderaan and Utapau.

 

But the most inspiring part of Star Wars Celebration was how entire families went to it, garbed as the characters they dreamt of. The franchise’s nearly four decades (next year is its 40th anniversary)—from 1977’s “Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope” to 2015’s “Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens”—meant that the fathers and mothers became fans of some part of it, just as the children became fans of another part.

 

Brother and sister could be Jedi Master and Sith Lord alike. Everyone can be a part of Star Wars, George Lucas’ galactic gift that keeps giving, something shared by millions of fans across time, regardless of the color of your lightsaber.

 

Golden age

 

The Force is strong in the new films, as well. If anyone is wondering about the impact of “The Force Awakens,” they should note that the vast majority of women attending “Star Wars Awakens” sported costumes as one character—Daisy Ridley’s Rey—or that the most commonly spotted Dark Sider in the halls was neither the iconic Darth Vader or the menacing Darth Maul, but the newest one, Kylo Ren.

 

There were many things to see, and so it also meant lining up for hours to see Mark Hamill, for example. “Queuing is part of the Star Wars Celebration experience,” we heard more than once. There was exclusive merchandise to buy, screenings to attend, games to play, celebrities to meet and announcements to hear, particularly of the upcoming “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

 

“It is the golden age of ‘Star Wars,’” many said, pointing out the forthcoming films, the animated TV series, the videogames and just the sheer growth in the fandom by those who are discovering “Star Wars” for the first time, joining forces with those who experienced it back in 1977.

 

“Star Wars” is everywhere now, not unlike the Force itself.

 

It is the fact that “Star Wars” is so inclusive as a fandom that makes it the greatest. Fans complimented and asked questions of those in costumes. The cosplayers posed gamely with everyone who asked. There was a spirit of being on the same side, of being part of something bigger, of celebrating in this once-in-a-lifetime event.

 

One remembers the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi: “You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.”

 

Why is “Star Wars” the greatest fandom of all? It’s because you can come to Star Wars Celebration a big fan—and leave an even bigger fan than ever. The Force will be with us all, always.