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William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy at Official STAR TREK Convention Las Vegas August 11-14

Klingons, Andorians and Vulcans will be joined by humans as fans from around the galaxy beam into The Official STAR TREK Convention Las Vegas to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of Star Trek on August 11-14 for the world’s largest Star Trek Convention.   This 45th Anniversary celebration is expecting over 20,000 attendees to convene at a new location, The Rio Suites Hotel, 3700 W. Flamingo Road.  

Headlining the superstar on stage line up will include: Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) on Saturday, making his second to last convention appearance before retirement, and William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) appearing together and separately on stage, on Sunday.

This four-day celebration will also be highlighted by in-person appearances on stage by a Starfleet worthy line-up of Star Trek celebrities. Thursday will feature Star Trek Enterprise’s Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed) and Connor Trinneer (Trip). Friday is noted for on-stage events with Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker) and the cast members of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine including Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Max Grodenchik (Rom), and Nana Visitor (Major Kira).

Saturday will feature a rare Star Trek Convention appearance by Brent Spiner (Data) and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway), plus, for first time the four Klingon’s will invade Vegas in full make up and costume and appear together on stage including Gwynyth Walsh (B’etor), Barbara March (Lursa), J.G. Hertzler (Martok) and Robert O’Reilly (Gowron).

The Original Star Trek cast members will round out the line-up on Sunday when fans can meet Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) and Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand). Also, for first time George Takei (Sulu from Classic Star Trek) and John Cho (Sulu in the new Star Trek film) will be appearing on stage together.

This year many of the fans will come dressed to participate in a Guiness World Record second attempt at  “the largest gathering of people dressed as Star Trek characters”.  The previous record of 571 characters was garnered last year at Dragoncon convention in Atlanta.     Gary Berman, Creation Entertainment’s (the convention promoter) co-CEO said, “Cosplay, or dressing in character, has always been a huge part of our conventions and has become increasingly popular in recent years.   Beating this record is certainly a challenge but I believe our attendees are ready to go where no fan convention has gone before!”    The record attempt will take place on Saturday at 2:00 PM and is sponsored by MONOPOLY: Star Trek Klingon Limited Edition by USAopoly.

In addition to celebrities, the non-stop theatrical show will include behind-the-scenes presentations, costume and trivia contests, no minimum bid auctions of unique collectibles and one-of-a-kind items, and special fan-made music videos.    The exhibit hall will boast major companies and distributors selling and displaying Star Trek and sci-fi collectibles from across the nebula.

Along with nighttime Star Trek themed parties, a not to be missed Saturday Night Gala Celebration with the legendary James Darren in full concert with his band. The concert will take place Saturday, August 13 at 9:30 PM and a separate ticket price will apply.

General admission tickets are available in advance (www.creationent.com) or at the door for $35 on Thursday and Friday, and $40 Saturday and Sunday.  General admission tickets for children 12 and under are $25.  Children under six are admitted free when accompanied by a parent or guardian. General admission tickets for the Saturday evening gala are $30. Show hours are Thursday, 10:30 AM – 7 PM, Friday, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Saturday, 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM and Sunday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (times are tentative).