San Diego Comic-Con officially cancelled due to COVID-19
By Shaun Stacy
For the first time in its 50-year history, San Diego Comic-Con has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The convention will return in 2021.
San Diego Comic-Con organizers have made it official: SDCC is cancelled for this year, for the first time in the organization’s fifty year history. The convention will return next year, in July 2021.
San Diego Comic-Con is the latest in a long line of pop culture events such as WonderCon, ClexaCon, Coachella and SXSW who have cancelled or postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers issued a press release stating that they had hoped to move forward for the sake of stakeholders and vendors; however, recent health advisories have made it clear that it would not be safe to proceed with business as usual. Officials say that the event is currently scheduled to return in 2021 from July 22-25.
SDCC has also been working on some major renovations of Balboa Park’s Federal Building, which is set to be converted into the Comic-Con Museum as of summer 2021. Though construction efforts have slowed, official state that the museum is still in works and they’ll be releasing plans that illustrate the complete renovation within the coming months.
Convention organizers also announced that individuals who have purchased badges for this year’s event will have the option of receiving a full refund or transferring their badge privileges to next year’s SDCC. Meanwhile, onPeak, SDCC’s official hotel affiliate, will automatically begin to cancel reservations and process refunds on hotel stays. Guests will not have to call in to cancel reservations done through onPeak; this will be done over the course of the next several days.
San Diego Comic-Con is one of the largest pop culture conventions in the world, with an average of over 100,000 attendees every year from more than 80 different countries. It has been a mainstay in the entertainment world, particularly for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as a launchpad to showcase current and upcoming television, film, and comic book projects. On average, the economic impact of the convention in the San Diego area is around $150 million dollars.
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