--- title: May the Fourth: Explaining Star Wars Day description: Every year on May 4, Star Wars fans everywhere celebrate the franchise by wishing each other a galaxy far, far away-themed greeting canonical: https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-03T21:34:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:03.861Z og:title: May the Fourth Be With You on This Star Wars Day og:description: Celebrate or celebrate not, there is no try og:url: https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c76a72d9ae915d4/698891b8e20a873aeea90aff/daisy-ridley-harrison-ford.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: daisy-ridley-harrison-ford og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: May the Fourth Be With You on This Star Wars Day twitter:description: Celebrate or celebrate not, there is no try twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c76a72d9ae915d4/698891b8e20a873aeea90aff/daisy-ridley-harrison-ford.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # May the Fourth Be With You on This _Star Wars_ Day  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer May 3, 2016 9:34 PM UTC  Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.Lucasfilm Ltd.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer May 3, 2016 9:34 PM UTC Every year on May 4, _Star Wars_ fans everywhere celebrate the franchise by wishing each other a galaxy far, far away-themed greeting: “May the fourth be with you.” A play on the phrase, “May the Force be with you,” the saying has sparked an unofficial holiday known as [_Star Wars_ Day](http://time.com/3843530/star-wars-day-may-the-4th/?iid=sr-link2) that has become an annual occasion for people to celebrate their love for the saga. While every May 4 is a special one, the recent release of _The Force Awakens_ and anticipation for the upcoming [_Episode VIII_ ](http://time.com/4215673/star-wars-episode-viii-filming-2/?iid=sr-link1)and [_Rogue One: A Star Wars Story_](http://time.com/4284989/rogue-one-trailer-what-we-learned/?iid=sr-link2)promise to make this year’s day particularly exciting. **Read More:** [May the 4th Be With You: A Brief History of _Star Wars_ Day](http://time.com/87062/may-the-4th-be-with-you-a-brief-history-of-star-wars-day/?iid=sr-link1) [_Star_](http://www.starwars.com/news/support-star-wars-force-for-change-at-disney-parks-starting-may-4-2016)[ _Wars_ _:_ ](http://www.starwars.com/news/support-star-wars-force-for-change-at-disney-parks-starting-may-4-2016)[Force for Change](http://www.starwars.com/news/support-star-wars-force-for-change-at-disney-parks-starting-may-4-2016), the series’ official charity organization, is returning to Disney Parks on Tuesday, meaning fans will be able to purchase _Rogue One_ shirts — the first products released for the new movie — to benefit UNICEF Kid Power. In addition, the makers of _Star Wars: Battlefront_ — a popular video game based on the films — are offering a free four-hour trial of the game starting at 11 a.m. PST, [according to PC Gamer](http://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-battlefront-free-trial-begins-on-may-4/). And, as always, those who are just looking for a laugh can follow [#StarWarsDay](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23StarWarsDay&src=tyah) on Twitter for a live stream of all the May 4th puns and memes that are being tweeted throughout the day. > [](https://twitter.com/Hanfromthegrave/status/727573322360201216) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/"},"headline":"May the Fourth Be With You on This Star Wars Day","datePublished":"2016-05-03T21:34:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:03.861Z","description":"Celebrate or celebrate not, there is no try","url":"https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","movies","viral","Star Wars topic","memes","star wars: the force awakens","The Force Awakens"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c76a72d9ae915d4/698891b8e20a873aeea90aff/daisy-ridley-harrison-ford.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c76a72d9ae915d4/698891b8e20a873aeea90aff/daisy-ridley-harrison-ford.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"daisy-ridley-harrison-ford","caption":"Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.","creditText":"Lucasfilm Ltd.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4315398/may-the-fourth-star-wars-day/","name":"May the Fourth Be With You on This Star Wars Day"}}]}] ```