J.J. Abrams
The annual "Star Wars" Celebration will kick off with a "Force Awakens" panel from director J.J. Abrams (pictured) and Lucas Film president Kathleen Kennedy. You can check out the event for free via a live stream at the film's official website. Reuters

UPDATE: This article now has the live stream embedded below.

If you purchased a ticket to the annual “Star Wars” celebration in Anaheim, California, it just went down in value. The biggest attraction at the event, a panel with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams, will be live-streamed online for free.

That’s right, the biggest “Star Wars” event since the release of the 88-second teaser trailer is coming Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT). The panel will see Abrams take the stage along with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. It is expected that they will reveal some plot details about the movie, as well as the first poster and the highly anticipated full-length trailer.

While the auditorium in Anaheim will likely be standing room only – fans from all across the galaxy will be able to tune in to the event at the film’s official website (Starwars.com), without needing any kind of sign-in information. The site, in conjunction with Verizon, will kick off 30 hours of live-streaming content starting with the Abrams-Kennedy panel. Diehard fans who weren’t able to score tickets to the four-day celebration will be able to see more than a dozen panels and events, including talks with “Star Wars” cast royalty Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Ian McDiarmid (The Emperor).

According to SlashFilm, the live stream will not cut away when Abrams and Kennedy show exclusive content such as clips, the poster or the new trailer. This means that anyone who wants to head over to Starwars.com when the event kicks off will be treated to the world premiere of the first new “Star Wars” trailer since “Revenge of the Sith” a decade ago.

It was previously reported that moviegoers will see the trailer for “The Force Awakens” before every showing of Disney’s other big-budget property, Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” when it hits theaters May 1. But the world premiere is now expected to come on Thursday. Many were wondering how long it would take for someone in the crowd to leak a copy of it online or if Disney and Lucasfilm would simply upload an HD-quality trailer online soon after. Now, thanks to the live stream, the answer is: a bit of both.

The event will go live sometime before 10 a.m. PDT Thursday and run through 6:30 p.m. PDT Sunday. Click here to watch. Following the end of the panel at 11 a.m. PDT, Thursday's schedule will include:

  • "Galactic Academy": 10 a.m. PDT - 6 p.m. PDT
  • "Young Lightsaber Training": 11 a.m. PDT - 11:30 a.m. PDT
  • "Ewok Decorating With Patrick Donlan": 11 a.m. PDT - 12 p.m. PDT
  • "'Star Wars' Origami with Chris Alexander": 11 a.m. PDT - 12 p.m. PDT
  • "Star Wars Family Room": 11 a.m. PDT - 6 p.m. PDT
  • "'Star Wars Collectors' Social Room": 11 a.m. PDT - 6 p.m. PDT
  • "Droid Builders' Room": 11 a.m. PDT - 6 p.m. PDT
  • "R2-D2 Builders' Display & Photo Area": 11 a.m. PDT - 6 p.m. PDT
  • "Celebration Autograph Hall by Offical Pix": 11 a.m. PDT - 8 p.m. PDT

You can get a full list of the celebration's events through Sunday here. However, it's unclear at this time which events will and will not be live-streamed.