Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Fire & Rescue crew members pose with costumers at the Forest Moon Festival earlier this month. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City Fire & Rescue "We beat Taylor Swift!” Cassandra Hesseltine uttered those words before the Crescent City Council on Monday. People, the celebrity news magazine that reaches more than 35 million Americans weekly, listed the Forest Moon Festival as the fourth reason to love California, she said. Disney was No. 3 on that list. Taylor was No. 5. And, Hesseltine said, the magazine left Humboldt out though the Forest Moon Festival is a two-county event. “They mention that the fourth reason to love California right after Disney is that there were film locations for Return of the Jedi and Star Wars,” she said. “And it’s very clear… you guys got the spotlight with just Del Norte County in there.” The special edition, a partnership with Visit California, came out in March. The feature tells readers that California’s parks “play planets in Star Wars” and includes two photos of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Parks, the setting for “Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.” About 100 Del Norters were stormtrooper extras, according to a cutline for one of the photos featuring the movie’s cast. The Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission held the first Forest Moon Festival in 2023 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Return of the Jedi.” According to Hesseltine, the Humboldt-Del Norte film commissioner, despite competition from a Star Wars convention in Japan making for a smaller audience, this year’s event still had a healthy turnout. She credited the press the Forest Moon festival drew before the event, including the People magazine spread. The festival was also featured on MSN and NBC. Held May 31 through June 1 in Crescent City, Eureka and Southern Humboldt, the event included screenings of “Return of the Jedi” and “Fanboys” — a Star Wars-themed comedy directed by Kyle Newman, who was also at the festival. Rebel Force Radio, the longest-running Star Wars podcast also made an appearance, promoting the festival about a week ahead of time and putting out highlights since its inclusion. Hesseltine told the City Council that she hopes next year’s event will be even larger. “What [podcast creators] told us was that this was by far the most unique festival they’ve been to in the 15 years they’ve been doing this,” she said. “It is a bucket list festival and their plan is to encourage all their followers to attend this next year. That’s their goal. And they’d like to come back.” Locals also made the festival extra special, including Linda Yuvan, a Smith River woman who dressed the Ewoks, and District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey whose father, a CHP officer, gave C3PO a ticket. Both were featured on the Rebel Force Radio podcast along with Ernie Perry who was with the county’s community development department. “The city went above and beyond,” Hesseltine said. “It was all-hands on deck and it was definitely very noticed and helped us out in a lot of ways.” Crescent City Councilman Jason Greenough, whose family are huge Star Wars fans, predicted the Forest Moon Festival being even more successful in future years. “We went from last year getting noticed by the New York Times, SF Gate and I think one more big publication to People magazine. Oh my goodness,” he said. “I think this has huge potential for, not just our businesses and economic development in Del Norte County, I think this could be one of our biggest events of the year going forward if we play this right.”