YOU would be hard-pressed to find a bigger Star Wars fan than Durban North’s Lakota Schultz. She recently returned from one of the biggest gatherings of the movies’ fans in the world, Star Wars Celebrations in Orlando, Florida. This year’s celebration also honoured the first Star Wars movie, which turned 40 this year. A special panel gathering of Star Wars creators and stars from across the saga’s history were also present at the convention.

“Originally I wasn’t going to go but then I thought, it’s the 40th anniversary since the first film, they would be revealing the trailer for ‘The Last Jedi’ and it was the first celebrations since Carrie Fisher died. So it was this trifecta that really made my mind up. I’ve been a fan of the movies for 35 years and I didn’t want to miss out. It was just phenomenal. There was a beautiful tribute to Carrie, who I met in 2016, and that made the trip even more memorable. I also got a chance to meet Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Ian McDiarmid (The Emperor) which was just awesome,” she said.

Schultz, who wore two amazing galactic themed pin-up dresses, one of which was made in Durban North, was one of the standouts at the Star Wars fan convention.

“A lovely lady by the name of Kim Mey made a pin-up dress for me from material I bought in the UK and everybody loved the dress. People wanted photos with me and I was thinking there’s so many more amazing cosplays out there.

“There was so many amazing people who dressed in elaborate Darth Vader outfits and 501st Legion approved outfits and here’s me trotting around in my dress, which I love. Another standout for me, was how amazing the galactic cosplay was. The cosplays ran the gamut from animated series to Muppets Star Wars mash-ups,” she said.

Schultz was the only person from Durban at the convention which saw more than 70 000 fans attend.