Versifier Unleashed: The History of Ahsoka Tano Day

The history of Ahsoka Tano Day begins with the story of my Ahsoka fandom. Well, a condensed version anyway. Lucasfilm had given me four passes to an advance screening of The Clone Wars Movie for Saturday, August 9, 2008, just under a week prior to the film's official release on August 15th. [Please note; I'm not as well connected as that statement makes me sound.] I was mad excited! At Celebration IV in Los Angeles the year before I had waited in line for over two hours to attend The Clone Wars panel, during which I was part of the first public audience to see the trailer. So the May 2007 to August 2008 wait felt like an eternity. But well worth it! I absolutely loved the movie. Truth be told though, my initial reaction to learning Ahsoka was going to be Anakin's Padawan was, "oh, you gotta be kidding me". However, that was insanely short lived, and by the time the credits rolled, I was an Ahsoka fan.

I went back and saw The Clone Wars again on opening weekend, and hosted a small viewing party for the Season 1 premiere the following month. My fascination with Ahsoka grew with each episode, and by the time Season 2 wrapped up Ahsoka had become my favorite Star Wars character. I was born in '79, saw Return of the Jedi in theaters, and was/am a huge Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, and Expanded Universe fan. So for Ahsoka to rise above the ranks of all those amazing characters [in my eyes] spoke volumes. I wouldn't go so far as to say I became obsessed with Ahsoka, but in reality I wasn't far off. Haha! I was learning, reading, watching, saving, buying, collecting, and experiencing anything and everything Ahsoka related. In February 2012 I launched AhsokaTanosLife on Twitter (added Instagram in October 2015), as a way to share my Ahsoka fandom with other Ahsoka fans. Through AhsokaTanosLife I started the world's weekly #TanoTuesday celebration, #AhsokasDailyHoloImage, and a handful of other features. And in 2014 I wrote and released my original "Ahsoka" song as part of Wave 1 of The Lost Holocron, my Star Wars Hip Hop project. In short, Ahsoka was a big part of my daily existence, and I was all about it!

On Thursday, January 29, 2015 I was prepping an AhsokaTanosLife January 29^th post.

January 29, 2008 was the day Lucasfilm officially unveiled the Ahsoka Tano character (name and images), to the world.

Fun Fact: The very first poster for The Clone Wars, a giveaway during the Celebration IV The Clone Wars panel, actually featured Ahsoka, eight months prior to her unveiling. However, she was blacked out on the poster, and wasn't featured in the initial trailer. So the little "something?" with a green lightsaber on that poster was a mystery for eight months.

As I'm prepping said aforementioned post I began thinking about how dope it would be to have a day celebrating all things Ahsoka. An Ahsoka holiday. A day to appreciate; Ahsoka the fictional character, the tangible Ahsoka moments and memories, and all the intangibles Ahsoka brought to the lives of fans. Thus I simply decided to start one, and to call it Ahsoka Tano Day. I chose January 29th not only because it was the day of her official unveiling, but also so the day itself would be solely hers. I didn't want a date like August 15th, Ahsoka's debut [in The Clone Wars Movie] because then Ahsoka Tano Day would be shared with the anniversary of The Clone Wars. January 29th was perfect as it offered both significance and exclusivity.

The first annual Ahsoka Tano Day was January 29, 2015. As I had just created the holiday that same morning, it was more of an announcement than a celebration, and one that didn’t extend beyond my circle of Twitter followers. I then began spreading the word as it were. The second annual in 2016 was celebrated on both Twitter and Instagram, and had a little more traction. By the third annual in 2017 what I had hoped would happen would, Ahsoka Tano Day had taken on a life of its’ own. Ahsoka fans across the world were celebrating and promoting Ahsoka Tano Day, many of whom had no idea who I was and/or weren’t familiar with AhsokaTanosLife. So while AhsokaTanosLife would always be the birthplace and official home of Ahsoka Tano Day, it/I no longer needed to be the only driving force behind the holiday. I had created something that would live on without me, a special day for Ahsoka fans and the legacy of Ahsoka Tano herself. That’s a pretty dope feeling!

Today marks the sixth annual Ahsoka Tano Day. While it is not an “official Star Wars holiday”, in terms of being recognized or supported/promoted by Lucasfilm, it’s a very real holiday and day of celebration for Ahsoka fans. Even Ashley Eckstein has made Ahsoka Tano Day posts in the past. Just as Ahsoka will always live on, so will Ahsoka Tano Day. And that couldn’t happen without all the amazing Ahsoka fans around the globe. So I would like to thank each and every Ahsoka fan for helping to make Ahsoka Tano Day what it is today, and what it will continue to be for years to come.

Happy Ahsoka Tano Day!

May The Force Be With You!

Ahsoka Tano Day on AhsokaTanosLife over the years:

2015