Did you have plans to attend a few cons this year? Better check your dates. Here's the latest on some of the bigger conventions that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Were you ready for con season? I was, and I'm crossing my fingers that things are back on track for summer, but everything is in the air at the moment. Let's face the fact that there is a real possibility that there will be no con season this year, but never say never.
Though we may be disappointed, it's for the best that the cons are being placed on hold. It's irresponsible to have large gatherings during this health crisis, and the number of reported cases of coronavirus grows by the day. Hopefully, this will peak and things will go back to normal before too much longer, but no one knows enough about COVID-19 to say for sure.
The biggest question marks surround the two biggest conventions of the year, namely San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con.
NYCC has time on its side since it's not slated until October, but SDCC is still on the docket for late July. Will the pandemic be under control by then? Surely the SDCC organizers are working on a contingency plan just in case, but we can all hope that it doesn't get to that point.
Most conventions are pushing back the dates and hoping that the warmer summer temperatures will help quell the virus. At this point, most cons have been postponed rather than outright cancelled, with the exception of East Coast Comic Con. On the bright side, convention organizers are offering refunds for tickets, but I expect many of us are keeping our passes with the optimism that things will eventually turn around.
Speaking of optimism, Motor City Comic Con and the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention are scheduled for mid-May. Although I would hope that the country is back to normal by then, I don't share their positive outlook, but I hope I am wrong.
Below is the initial list of larger conventions and their current status and dates. I took these from the CGC and CBCS events listings from their respective sites, but that doesn't mean this covers every convention. If I missed a major one, leave me a comment.
STILL ON SCHEDULE
Lexington Comic and Toy Convention
May 14-17
May 15-17
June 4-7
Huntington Comic and Toy Convention
June 6-7
June 13-14
July 18-19
June 19-21
June 19-21
June 26-28
June 27-28
July 3-5
Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo
July 18-19
July 23-26
July 30-August 2
August 7-9
August 8-9
August 14-16
August 20-23
August 21-23
August 27-30
September 25-27
October 8-11
October 23-25