Star Wars Tourism

#MayThe4th

CANTINA CLASSIC 10K

Episode I

May 6, 2023

AJIM, DJERBA — Tunisia

Join The Race

Mos Eisley

Junland Wastes

The annual Cantina Classic 10k is a one-of-a-kind event inspired by and directly associated with Star Wars film sites on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The 10k course offers a combination of urban, rural, and seaside landscapes in a serene Mediterranean setting. Although not required, cosplay running attire is encouraged.

Galaxy Tours partners with We Run in Djerba to organize the Cantina Classic 10k. A network of public and private co-sponsors makes this event possible.

Tunisia is easily accessible from Europe. Various airlines offer direct flights (duration: under three hours) to Tunis-Carthage Airport (TUN). Although a few European carriers fly directly to Djerba-Zarzis Airport (DJE), the most common and flexible route to Djerba for international travelers is via Tunis. Tunisair Express flies between Tunis and Djerba multiple times daily at inexpensive rates.

Prominently visible throughout the 10k course is the unique mix of Amazigh and Ibadi Islamic architecture, characterized by lime-covered rectangular structures with simplistic domes, barrel-vaulted roofs, and weight-bearing external buttresses. This architectural style—instantly familiar to Star Wars fans—served as one of the key factors that prompted George Lucas in mid-November 1975 to select Tunisia as the real-world filming location for fictional Tatooine.

The focal point of the 10k course is the Ajim city center neighborhood that Lucasfilm converted into fictional Mos Eisley for filming on 2-3 April 1976. The 10k starts and ends at the abandoned bakery utilized as the Mos Eisley Cantina exterior. The final leg moves runners down a small side street made famous as the Mos Eisley stormtrooper checkpoint and Docking Bay 94 alley. Post-event activities take place in the square that once featured Luke’s landspeeder, droids, and Jawas.

Amghar Mosque, staged on 4 April 1976 to depict the exterior of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s dwelling in the fictional Jundland Wastes, marks the approximate midpoint of the 10k course. Originally built in the 10th century CE as part of a defensive network of coastal lookout mosques, the isolated Ibadi structure rests directly along the Gulf of Gabès on the outskirts of Ajim.