--- 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: 2026-08-19T07:44:40.153Z 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=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 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=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # May the Fourth Be With You on This _Star Wars_ Day > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  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":"2026-08-19T07:44:40.153Z","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","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"}}]}] ```