May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Day History and Guide

Star Wars fans have said “May the 4th be with you” since 1978 — but it took until 2011 for the first formal event. Today Disney runs official celebrations at its parks while fans mark the day with costumes, parties, and TikTok memes. This guide explains what the holiday means, how it evolved, and how to celebrate it.

Official Holiday Name: Star Wars Day · Date: May 4th · Origin: Pun on “May the Force be with you” · Primary Source: StarWars.com · Celebration Focus: Fandom events and merchandise

What does May the 4th be with you mean?

The phrase “May the 4th be with you” is a deliberate pun on the iconic Star Wars line “May the Force be with you” — swapping the word “Force” for the calendar date May 4th. This wordplay works in both English and across translations, which helped it spread globally as a fan-created greeting that anyone can use regardless of how deeply they know the franchise.

Origin of the phrase

The earliest uses of the phrase date from 1978, one year after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), according to StarWars.com (official franchise hub). The first formally organized event in recognition of Star Wars Day came in 2011 at the Toronto Underground Cinema, marking the holiday’s shift from informal fan tradition to official calendar event.

Connection to Star Wars

Star Wars was firmly established within American popular culture by 1978 and became “like a handshake,” according to Professor Leo Braudy in the documentary Empire of Dreams (as cited by StarWars.com (official franchise hub)). The phrase rides this cultural familiarity — you don’t need to quote the movies to get the joke, and you don’t need to know someone’s favorite character to wish them a happy Star Wars Day.

Why is May 4th so special?

May 4th stands out as the one calendar date that belongs to Star Wars fans worldwide. Unlike holidays tied to history or religion, this observance exists entirely because fans decided it should. The date has earned recognition from libraries, media outlets, and — after 2012 — the Walt Disney Company itself.

Star Wars Day designation

Star Wars Day is observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise created by George Lucas, as documented by Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia). The observance spread quickly through media and grassroots celebrations since the franchise began in 1977, eventually landing on official event calendars at Disney parks and beyond.

Historical first uses

The first known public instance of the phrase being used to mark the date took place on May 4, 1979, when the Conservative Party purchased a half-page advertisement in the London Evening News reading “Dear Maggie, May the Fourth Be with You” to support Margaret Thatcher’s campaign for UK Prime Minister, according to Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia). On the same date three years later, a production crew member named Thom on the set of Return of the Jedi independently coined the same pun while shooting in redwood forests doubling for the moon of Endor.

How do you respond to May the 4th be with you?

The most common fan response is “And also the 5th” — a riff that extends the pun one day further. This reply has become so standard that saying it will immediately signal you know the culture, even if that’s the only Star Wars phrase you’ve ever learned.

Common comebacks

Fans have developed a small repertoire of responses beyond “And also the 5th.” Some lean into the Force theme with “May the 4th be with you, always.” Others go darker with “The 4th is a trap” or “The dark side of the 5th” — a nod to Revenge of the Sith Day on May 5, which some fans observe as a follow-up celebration for the franchise’s darker entries. These variations show how a single pun can branch into a whole vocabulary of inside jokes.

Fan-favorite replies

The exchange works best when the respondent matches the energy: casual fans often keep it simple with the May 5th callback, while more dedicated fans might quote a character’s line directly. Darth Vader’s “I am your father” doesn’t quite fit the calendar theme, but Yoda’s wisdom (“Luminous beings are we”) translates better into anniversary wishes. There’s no official script — the goal is participation, not perfection.

How to celebrate May 4th?

Celebrations range from watching movies with friends to attending officially licensed events at Disney parks. The beauty of Star Wars Day is that there’s no wrong way to participate — the franchise’s reach means you can engage at whatever depth suits you.

At work ideas

Many workplaces have embraced Star Wars Day as a low-stakes dress-up opportunity. Popular activities include wearing themed shirts (Star Wars quotes, character designs, or “May the 4th be with you” tees), decorating desks with small props, and organizing informal movie watch parties during lunch breaks. Some offices coordinate potlucks with Star Wars-themed food names, turning the break room into a cantina of sorts.

Merchandise and events

The Walt Disney Company has leaned hard into official Star Wars Day merchandise and events since acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012. The May the 4th Be With You 2025 Collection launched on May 4, 2025, at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort, featuring tees, hats, pins, and totes as documented by the Disney Parks Blog (official Disney Parks communications).

LEGO Stores on or around Sunday, May 4th offer a LEGO Star Wars Grogu Make and Take event where visitors can build and bring home a small LEGO model of Grogu in a hover pram, according to LEGO Official (manufacturer). Interactive LEGO mural walls and pop-up retail displays featuring newly released LEGO building sets are available at Disney Springs and Downtown Disney District from May 2–4 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time.

At LEGOLAND Florida and LEGOLAND California parks, the LEGO Star Wars Miniland features seven different Star Wars scenes, including a Jawa sandcrawler on Tatooine and an underwater Opee sea killer on Naboo, while the LEGO Star Wars Gallery showcases 12 favorite characters standing 3 feet tall, with a life-size Darth Maul as the highlight.

Famous Star Wars lines related to May 4th?

While the May 4th pun is the holiday’s signature phrase, the Star Wars franchise offers plenty of other memorable lines that fans reference throughout the celebration. Darth Vader’s “I am your father” and Yoda’s teachings about the Force appear in everything from office decorations to social media posts during the May 4th period.

Darth Vader quotes

Darth Vader’s most famous delivery — “No, I am your father” — doesn’t align with May 4th thematically, but it remains the franchise’s most quoted line in pop culture. Fans often work Star Wars quotes into celebration posts without connecting them to the calendar date directly, building atmosphere for the holiday rather than explaining it.

Jedi Code on emotions

The Jedi Code’s emphasis on emotional control (“There is no emotion, there is peace”) occasionally surfaces in Star Wars Day humor, particularly around the “And also the 5th” response as a joke about Sith fallibility. More tenderly, the question of whether a Jedi can say “I love you” appears in fan discussions around the holiday, often tied to Anakin and Padmé’s storyline as a counterpoint to Jedi restraint.

For Star Wars fans, the choice is straightforward: wear the shirt, say the line, and join the celebration on May 4th — or wait until May 5th for Revenge of the Sith Day, whichever side of the Force you prefer.

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The playful pun ‘May the 4th be with you’ has evolved into a global tradition, detailed in this origin, history and celebrations overview for fans everywhere.

Frequently asked questions