The Empire Strikes Lisburn city centre

The city centre was invaded by Stormtroopers, Jedis, Siths and Wookies for the family event which proved very popular.

The event was to celebrate the release of the new film Rogue One: A Star Wars story in cinemas this weekend.

It was an action packed day of events for all the family with face painting, glitter tattoos and balloon modelling and a stunning Star Wars ice sculpture situated in Lisburn Square.

One of the highlights of the event was the Empire Parade through the city centre with Lisburn feeling like something from a galaxy far, far away.

Chair of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Development Committee, Councillor Uel Mackin hailed the event was a huge success. Speaking on Saturday during the event, he said: “It’s been a very successful event so far, with the number of youngsters from pre-school age to watch characters from an event which happened forty years ago.

“The crowd here today have been tremendous, people watching the parade, engaging with the characters and going into local shops - which was the most important thing.

“I have been speaking to several people this morning and they all say what a fantastic event it has been and they want to see more of it and hopefully we will be able to do that. It was just fantastic to watch, the interaction between the characters and the public and was absolutely fantastic, a great event and a great event day.”