Today 'Star Wars, the Exhibition' opened its doors in Brussels, Belgium.

This week had been rather busy for myself and TeeKay-421, the Belgian Star Wars Fanclub. Last Tuesday I got a chance to take a sneak-peek behind the scenes of the Expo with a Belgian Radio. It was a funny experience for many things were uncovered by glass and were lying 'naked' (as Threepio would say) on their display. I had a great chance to shoot some pictures then. There was even one object that didn't find its way into the real expo being a diorama of Dagobah with Luke's X-Wing sinking in the swamp.

When we arrived Friday in the early afternoon for an interview with one of the organisation's managers, I got a call from the Belgian Public Television Journal who interviewed me for their evening news. This must have been one of the best features in the media our fanclub ever got in its ten-year existence!

But we were in for more surprises. Kris Van de Sande (who operated the camera and who you might know from www.endorexpress.net) discovered that Don Bies was walking around on the Expo. We immediately did an unexpected interview with Mr. Bies wo was really friendly to talk to. Tabitha Totah, a beautiful representative from Lucasfilm, also visited the Expo. The TeeKay webteam consisting of Kris, Stijn (our webmaster) and myself visited the Expo with the Belgian press. In two hours we had plenty of time to take nice pictures without too much crowd hanging around the displays.

In the evening, a special VIP event was planned. It was attended by more than 1200 visitors and by almost 100 costumed characters from TeeKay, Rebel Legion Benelux, 501st South Garrison FanWars and from all over Europe! The cosplayers had received very strict rules for the weekend and had to remain in character all the time. When - once more - we visited the expo in company of a 4th member of TeeKay, Jeroen, we left a bunch of new TeeKay flyers at the Expo's entrance which we had to restock completely within two hours.

The Expo itself is beautiful and surely worth a visit. You can see some pictures at the TeeKay archives that will speak for it. The Wookiees were absent for they had gotten damaged during the trip from London to Brussels. Unique for Brussels is the concept of going through a spaceship when visiting another hall of objects. I thought there were a bit more items from the prequels than from the classics but I didn't really mind. Some of the highlights for me were several chairs used by Amidala, the statues from the Jedi Archives and the many models of the aliens and creatures (especially the one of the unused Adarian species, known as 'Hole in the Head'). The expo ended in a merchandising shop that sold one special item, an exclusive Darth Maul Hologram Gentle Giant mini-bust, which is a great collectible.

Pictures from the Exhibition:
- Unused Dagobah maquette seen on Tuesday
- Expo Opening
- Star Wars Bus
- Expo itself

- Article from 'Het Nieuwsblad' Newspaper
- Oh my, I'm on the Belgian Evening News

Inaccuracies:
Though the organization was nearly perfect and the Expo itself is worth every penny (and at least one other visit in the future), I discovered several inaccuracies and told Don Bies about them. I felt relieved when he told me he had also discovered some of the same inaccuracies.

Here's the list of inaccuracies that I discovered at the Expo. They may go unnoticed to the untrained eye but there is always someone who'll find them sooner or later. The info regarding the aliens from Jabba's Palace is taken from the year 1983. Some of this information is now outdated and replaced by newer information or retcons.

* The Galaxy map says Perlemnian Trade Route instead of the Perlemian Trade Route.
* Ratts Tyerell is spelled Ratts Tyrell at the Expo.
* Ebe E. Endocott is spelled Ebe Endcott at the Expo.
* Ki-Adi-Mundi is spelled Ki Adi Mundi at the Expo.
* Wooof is spelled Woof at the Expo.
* When setting up the models, the plaques of the Reek and the Massiff were switched.
* Kithaba was called Barada at the Expo. The Klatooinian with the red bandana is now known as Kithaba. Barada wears a yellow bandana.
* The Worrt was labelled as Rock Wart, which is a totally different creature
* The Weequay are still called Quee Quay, which is an old production name for the species.