Star Wars in Tunisia, fifty years on
25 May 2027
Fifty years since the first film was released. Two other dates are also called the 50th anniversary, and they are set apart below.
Tatooine was Tunisia. The first film turns fifty on 25 May 2027, and the places it was filmed, with the ones built for the films after it, are in the desert around Nefta, in the south-east and on the island of Djerba.
Three dates are called the 50th anniversary
They are three different events, and a page that blurs them tells a reader the wrong thing about at least one. We mean 25 May 2027.
- 25 May 2027The date this page uses
Fifty years to the day since the first film was released, on 25 May 1977.
- 19 February 2027
A limited theatrical re-release of the restored 1977 film, which StarWars.com marks as the 50th anniversary. It is a re-release and not the anniversary of the film's opening.
- 22 March 2026
Fifty years since filming began, on 22 March 1976, in the deserts of Tunisia, on a salt flat at the Nefta location. That date falls in 2026, before the year this expedition is named for.
Star Wars Celebration, the fan convention, is in Los Angeles from 1 to 4 April 2027, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is not in Tunisia and it is not part of this expedition.
Where it was filmed in Tunisia
Galaxy Tours records twelve Star Wars film sites in Tunisia. These nine are the ones to plan around, and each carries the pages it comes from. The other three are two mosques on Djerba and a second area of the Mos Espa dunes, whose set is buried.
They are not all the same film. The Mos Espa set and the ksour belong to the films shot in 1997 and 2000, not to the 1977 film that is turning fifty. The 1977 film's sites are the Lars homestead, the dune sea, the Jundland Wastes and the streets of Mos Eisley on Djerba.
Chott el Djerid
The salt flats west of Nefta
The exterior of the Lars homestead, a dome in the salt flats. Galaxy Tours records that it has been rebuilt or restored six times between 1976 and 2022.
In: A New Hope (1977), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith
Hotel Sidi Driss
Matmata, in the south-east
The interior of the Lars homestead, filmed in one pit of five linked underground dwellings.
In: A New Hope (1977) and Attack of the Clones (2002)
The Mos Espa set
The Eriguet dunes, north of Nefta
The Mos Espa marketplace and the podrace arena, built for the prequels in 1997 and 2000. Galaxy Tours calls the large set a preserved site.
In: The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002)
Ong Jemel
The salt flats of Chott el Gharsa, beside the Eriguet dunes
The desert mesa where the Sith landing was filmed, and the Canyon Dune Turn of the podrace course.
In: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Gour Beni Mzab
A line of dunes west of Nefta
The dune sea, with the crash site of an escape pod.
In: A New Hope (1977)
Maguer Gorge
The Sidi Bouhlel canyon, Tozeur Governorate
The canyons and bluffs of the Jundland Wastes, and sniper points over the podrace.
In: A New Hope (1977) and The Phantom Menace (1999)
Ksar Haddada
Tataouine Governorate, in the south-east
A fortified granary village that stood for the slave quarters of Mos Espa.
In: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Ksar Ommarsia
Medenine, in the south-east
A granary in the middle of the town, used for a street of the Mos Espa slave quarters and the outside of one of its homes. It is often mistaken for Ksar Medenine.
In: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Ajim
The island of Djerba
The streets and plaza of Mos Eisley, and the outside of the cantina.
In: A New Hope (1977)
The same sites, cut by film and by area, with what a visitor should know about each, are in the guide to Star Wars filming locations in Tunisia.
One site the sources disagree about
Ksar Ouled Soltane, in Tataouine Governorate, is often named as a Star Wars location. The sources do not agree.
Lonely Planet (2018) and a short Wikipedia article say it was a film location.
Galaxy Tours, a specialist research site (2026), says it is not a film site and was at most scouted before The Phantom Menace, with no photographs or sketches of the visit known.
We do not list it as a confirmed location.
- Lonely Planet, 2018
- Ksar Ouled Soltane
- Galaxy Tours: Ksar Ouled Soltane, a scouted site
Journeys that already pass through Star Wars country
Every one of our journeys runs on your own dates. These are the journey pages that list each place. Which film sites a journey stops at depends on the day, so tell us the ones you want and the days are built around them.
Matmata
Chott el Jerid
Mos Espa and Chott el Gharsa
Ksar Haddada
The sets are in the desert
Tunisia's weather service records average daytime highs at Tozeur, the nearest station to the sets around Nefta, of 89.2F (31.8C) in May, 98.1F (36.7C) in June and 103.1F (39.5C) in July. The anniversary, 25 May, is in the first of those months.
Our own rule is not to suggest a month at Tozeur in which the average daytime high reaches 95F (35C), which leaves out June to August there.
Questions about the anniversary
- Which date is the 50th anniversary of Star Wars?
- Three dates are called the 50th anniversary, and they are different events. We use 25 May 2027, fifty years since the first film was released on 25 May 1977. The others are 19 February 2027, a limited theatrical re-release of the restored film, and 22 March 2026, fifty years since filming began in Tunisia on 22 March 1976.
- Where was Star Wars filmed in Tunisia?
- Galaxy Tours records twelve film sites in Tunisia. The best known are the salt flats of Chott el Djerid, for the outside of the Lars homestead, the Hotel Sidi Driss at Matmata, for its inside, the Mos Espa set in the Eriguet dunes north of Nefta, Ksar Haddada near Tataouine and Ajim on Djerba, for the streets of Mos Eisley.
- Was Ksar Ouled Soltane a Star Wars location?
- The sources disagree. Lonely Planet (2018) and a short Wikipedia article say it was a film location. Galaxy Tours, a specialist research site (2026), says it is not a film site and was at most scouted before The Phantom Menace, with no photographs or sketches of the visit known. We do not list it as a confirmed location.
- When is Star Wars Celebration in 2027?
- From 1 to 4 April 2027, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is in Los Angeles and not in Tunisia.
Tell us which sites you want to stand in.
Your own guide, driver and vehicle, on your own dates. After a twenty minute call, a day by day proposal follows within 48 hours, with the hotels named and a firm price per person.
Starting takes two minutes. We ask for your rough dates, who is travelling and where to reply, and nothing about payment or passports.
Straight to our team in Tunisia.
Your dates, your pace and the budget, in twenty minutes.
The planning guide is free, and it asks for an email address and nothing else. It covers safety in plain terms, when to go, what it costs, getting there from the United States and one sample itinerary.
We reply within one business day, US Eastern time.
Sources
The dates are StarWars.com's and the Celebration's own. The film sites are Galaxy Tours' research, a specialist site that records each site's scenes and dates, checked against Wikipedia's list of filming locations. Where they disagree with another source, the page says so.
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, release date 25 May 1977
StarWars.com. Official.
- Star Wars Returns to Theaters for 50th Anniversary
StarWars.com. Official.
- On This Day: Star Wars: A New Hope Began Filming 50 Years Ago
StarWars.com. Official.
- Star Wars Celebration, Los Angeles 2027
Official.
- Institut National de la Météorologie
Tunisia's national weather service. Official.
- Galaxy Tours: Star Wars Film Sites in Tunisia
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Chott el-Djerid
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Hotel Sidi Idriss
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Eriguet dunes, the Mos Espa set area
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Ong Jemel outcrop
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Gour Beni Mzab
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Maguer Gorge
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Ksar Hadada
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Ksar Ommarsia
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Ajim
Specialist research site.
- Galaxy Tours: Ksar Ouled Soltane, a scouted site
Specialist research site.
- List of Star Wars filming locations
Wikipedia. Published.
- Ksar Ouled Soltane
Wikipedia. Published.
- Lonely Planet, 2018
Published.