Star Trek Day Gives Fans Plenty Reasons To Celebrate
Star Trek Day is every September 8, celebrated by fans around the world. This year, in addition to local festivities, Paramount+ will be providing free access to some iconic Trek episodes including the premier episodes of Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds. Commemorating the day the first episode of the original Star Trek series aired in 1966, the holiday is an opportunity for fans to connect and build community around the beloved show.
Local Events
Fans of Star Trek can find local events including pop-ups at the Taste of Chicago in Chicago, at the Alexa Mall in Berlin, Germany, and at the Richmond Center in Vancouver, BC where a version of the captain’s chair will be on display.
In addition to the pop-ups, Doug Jones and Jason Isaacs will be appearing in person at the Rose City Comic Con the weekend of September 6. If you can’t find a local Star Trek event, don’t despair, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate.
Changing The Future
Virtual activities, promoted as “Take the Chair,” aim to ask fans the optimistic question: “What would I do if I were setting the course to the future?”
A digital captain’s chair experience will be available on StarTrek.com for fans to visualize themselves leading the way to the future.
Code.org, DoSomething.org, and Outright.org are all partnering with the franchise as a part of their Star Trek Day celebrations, encouraging young people to engage with computer science, make a positive change in their communities, and support LGBTQI rights.
Star Trek At Home
In addition to official events, private celebrations of Star Trek Day are encouraged. The simplest way to partake of the day’s spirit is to watch some Trek.
In addition to the free episodes available on Paramount+, you can watch the Original Series for free on Pluto TV.
You could also consider hosting a Star Trek-themed party to celebrate Star Trek Day. Wearing a Starfleet uniform, cooking up some Neelix-inspired cuisine, getting into your favorite Jake Sisco sweater, or mixing up some synthohol cocktails can all get you in the spirit of the Star Trek universe.
Even if you don’t want to have a big to-do, you can give the “live long and prosper” salute and see who does it back. It’s a great way to get into the spirit of the day.
Modern Tech Inspired By Trek
If you’re not really interested in group activities, you can try using one of the technologies that Trek inspired, like automatic sliding doors or voice-activated computer commands. You can also use a tablet, make a video call, or use a cell phone to make a call. All of these technologies appeared as hypothetical future devices on Star Trek first, before they became ordinary parts of our regular lives.
Our Own Bright Future
The most important way to participate in Star Trek Day is to work towards the kind of world that Star Trek represents. The major themes in the franchise are exploration, unity, and understanding, and the show inspires us to overcome our differences, work together to solve problems, and take care of each other. If we get nothing else out of Star Trek Day this year other than that, we can consider it a smashing success.
