Rumours have been circulating on Facebook for weeks of a strange, hairy creature being sighted in Pembroke Dock. Then pictures appeared of it relaxing on a bench near the Cleddau Bridge. Finally, the creature revealed itself at the Queen’s birthday celebrations at Front Street as the Wookiee Chewbacca from Star Wars - and he is in town to promote Pembroke Dock’s first Star Wars pop-up cinema and fan event which happens next month.

The event is a collaboration between the Tenby-based Rooms With A View cinema group and Pembroke Dock’s Regeneration Team - a group of local businesses and other organisations working with Pembrokeshire County Council to raise the profile of the town adopting #thedockstrikesback for this and future events.

Pembroke Dock’s Market Hall building will play host to the screening of The Empire Strikes Back, and an array of Star Wars themed fun on Saturday, May 21.

Last year saw the release of the newest hit Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, in which the Millennium Falcon space craft took to the skies once again with Han and Chewbacca at the controls. What few local people realise is that the only full-size model of the Millennium Falcon used in the Star Wars films was made in Pembroke Dock.

In 1979, the Royal Dockyard town proved to have the ideal space and the most skilled and capable workforce in the country to construct the full-size prop to feature in the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back.

Whilst the Millennium Falcon was being built it was kept hidden, workers referred to the project as the ‘The Magic Roundabout’ to keep the truth about what they were building in the Western hangar under wraps.

After completion, the enormous model airship was deconstructed and transported to Hertfordshire where the film was being shot. The Millennium Falcon became a key part of the Star Wars sequel and in 1983 it featured again, securing it as an iconic symbol of the trilogy.

Thirty-seven years on, Pembroke Dock’s first Star Wars pop-up cinema and fan event will be held just a stone’s throw from the original Millennium Falcon construction site and will celebrate the making of the Falcon and all things Star Wars.

The evening will begin at 6 pm with Star Wars stalls, activities and more in the Market Courtyard before the screening of The Empire Strikes Back begins. Hot food and snacks will be available, and there will be a Star Wars competition on the night.

A limited number of great value early bird tickets are available from Cwtch Coffee and Rembrandt Jewellers (hurry, when they are gone, they are gone). Further tickets will be available online at www.roomswithaview.wales from May 4.

Those who attend remember… The force will be with you always!