Paris Manga by TGS 2026 : Inside the Star Wars Village

The 40th Paris Manga by TGS, held on 3 and 4 October 2026 at Paris Nord Villepinte, included a Star Wars Village dedicated to the people who turn a screen universe into costumes, objects and shared experiences. The official programme listed the village as an exhibition, while its announced activities connected cosplay, droid replicas, collecting and charitable engagement. Together, they offered a revealing cross-section of the fan culture surrounding the saga created by George Lucas.

The supplied village announcement named seven participating associations: 501st Legion French Garrison, Alliance Impériale, Bulles de Star Wars, Coruscant 78, L’Escadron des Midi-Chloriens, R2 Builders France and Star Wars Normandy. Their individual programmes explain the appeal of this format: a visitor interested in armour could also discover miniature scenes, discuss recent releases or learn how a recognisable fictional character becomes a vehicle for real-world volunteering.

501st French Garrison and the story behind the armour

The 501st French Garrison, the French branch of the international 501st Legion, brought the village’s focus on film-faithful costuming into sharp relief. Its own presentation describes volunteers who recreate the saga’s iconic villains and take part in conventions, parades and charitable activities. The precision of the outfits is central to that identity, but so is the time members devote to public appearances and to sharing their enthusiasm with other fans.

A documented anecdote makes that international story particularly human. In a 2017 interview with StarWars.com, founder Albin Johnson recalled gathering his first stormtroopers in 1997 through his website, Detention Block 2551. He explained that assembling even a hundred troopers in one place would once have seemed a major achievement. His original wish was also social: to arrive at conventions and find a community, including people he had never previously met.

That background gives the French group’s appearance a wider context. A recognisable helmet can be an invitation to conversation as well as a display of craftsmanship. It also helps explain why volunteering belongs in the same story as costume accuracy: the international organisation explicitly identifies fundraising, charity work and volunteering as ways of putting its shared resources to use.

Alliance Impériale and Bulles de Star Wars explore fan creativity

For Alliance Impériale, the announced programme combined cosplay with character make-up, quizzes, a diorama exhibition, props and a photo stand. Those activities approached the same fictional world through several different skills. A quiz drew on knowledge of the saga, while a prop or miniature scene made its visual detail the attraction. The photo element gave the encounter a personal dimension, allowing visitors to place themselves alongside the costumes and creations.

Bulles de Star Wars, described in the supplied presentation as an association from Champagne-Ardenne, focused on costumes, original creations and collectibles for children and adults. The combination is significant: a collection preserves objects associated with the saga, while cosplay and handmade work invite fans to reinterpret its appearance. Within one village, those approaches made room both for the pleasure of recognising familiar designs and for curiosity about how enthusiasts reproduce them.

Coruscant 78 and L’Escadron des Midi-Chloriens put encounters first

Coruscant 78 was presented through an exhibition of costumes, objects and creations, with cosplay and charitable activity at the heart of its association. Its announced contribution underlined how much of a fan convention depends on work undertaken before the doors open. Displayed objects provide a starting point for looking closely at the saga’s designs, while meeting the people associated with them adds a human connection to the exhibition.

L’Escadron des Midi-Chloriens adopted a more playful invitation, bringing together humans and creatures inspired by the universe of George Lucas. Its presentation encouraged discussions of the latest releases and photographs with cosplayers in front of a market of finds spanning different eras. One charming detail was its reference to visitors’ phones as “spaciophones”: a small piece of in-universe humour that extended the role-playing beyond the costumes themselves.

R2 Builders France highlights the craft of droid replicas

R2 Builders France added another form of making to the programme with its announced display of Star Wars droid replicas. The group’s stated aim was to introduce, or reintroduce, audiences to building robots and other replicas through events and conventions. Alongside costumes and collectible objects, that contribution opened a different question: how do enthusiasts translate the shape and character of a screen robot into a physical construction?

The community’s beginner guide offers a useful insight into that process. It explains that some members have built droids in a few months using inexpensive, accessible components. That example helps demystify the finished replica without implying that every build follows the same timetable. Seen in this context, a droid exhibition is also a meeting point between admiration for a character and curiosity about the practical work behind it.

Star Wars Normandy connects cosplay with hospital charity

The charitable strand was especially explicit in the presentation of Star Wars Normandy, a Normandy-based association that collects toys for children in hospital. Its own website describes collections organised through events in shops, followed by distribution to paediatric services at partner hospitals. That mission gives the costumes a purpose beyond convention photography: they help volunteers create encounters around a fictional universe that children recognise.

There is independent confirmation of that work from the Centre Hospitalier de Dreux. In its account of the association, the hospital describes year-round toy collections and volunteers visiting rooms in Star Wars costumes. It also identifies the group’s creation in 2019. This documents the association’s wider work, rather than a toy collection at this convention.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page

Event recap: Paris Manga by TGS 2026

Where : Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte, Villepinte, France.
When : 3–4 October 2026.
What : A pop-culture convention whose programme included the Star Wars Village.

Photos : Boris Colletier / Mulderville