LEGO Star Wars Galactic Challenge World Championship

The countdown is on for the LEGO Star Wars Galactic Challenge World Championship. Thirty-five children from 18 countries will gather at LEGOLAND(r) California on September 22 to participate in the first global LEGO building contest ever to be held in the United States.

The LEGO Star Wars Galactic Challenge World Championship is the culmination of a year-long call-to-entry contest, which invited youngsters from throughout the world to design and build their visions of futuristic inventions.

For the past several months, each country has held national finals selecting their best LEGO builders. The U.S. finals were held April 29, 2000 at F.A.O. Schwarz in New York. Nine-year-old David Michon of Irvine, California was selected to represent the U.S. in the five-to-10 age category. And, 16-year-old John Lavery of Akron, Ohio will represent the states in the 11-to-16 age category.

Two children from each country totaling 35 kids from 18 countries will compete. Participating countries, include: the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Argentina (no participant in 11-16 age category), Norway, Germany, Hungary, New Zealand, Mexico, Sweden, Japan, Austria, the Philippines, Trinidad, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and South Korea.

On September 22, all 35 children will gather at LEGOLAND California (located in Carlsbad, California - approximately 30 miles north of San Diego). Each contestant will be given 10 assorted LEGO sets, including thousands of LEGO pieces, and just two hours to imagine, design and build a LEGO model representing his/her idea of a futuristic invention. Each finalist's creation will be judged on: originality of design (50%), engineering, construction and detail of design (30%) and creative use of LEGO components to reflect the contest theme (20%).

Two children will be selected as Grand Prize Winners and will receive a family trip to LEGO headquarters in Denmark. The two winners will participate in behind-the-scenes product development of new LEGO Star Wars sets. They also each win a life-sized LEGO Star Wars model (of their choice) autographed by Star Wars creator George Lucas. And, the two winners receive the prestigious title of "Best LEGO Builder in the Galaxy!"