SDCC announcement sends Thanksgiving trending on Twitter

People are eager to return to normal, but Comic-Con International’s surprise announcement that their planned in-person event would be held on Thanksgiving weekend had SDCC trending for all of the wrong reasons.

On Saturday, CCI announced that SDCC will return with an in-person event over Thanksgiving weekend in addition to the online SDCC at Home event planned for July 23-25.

Spokesperson David Glanzer indicated that SDCC’s return will help the struggling organization as well as vendors whose livelihoods were displaced by the pandemic:

"Comic-Con Special Edition will be the first in-person convention produced by the organization since Comic-Con 2019, and the first since the onset of the global pandemic COVID-19. The Fall event will allow the organization to highlight all the great elements that make Comic-Con such a popular event each year, as well as generate much needed revenue not only for the organization but also for local businesses and the community."

While the pandemic has definitely impacted people all over the world, the question of our readiness to return to a large-scale event like SDCC is valid. The choice of Thanksgiving weekend is another strange choice.

SDCC will now keep people from seeing their families for Thanksgiving

In any given year, SDCC plays host to roughly 135,000 fans. Even if capacity is capped at 20%, that still means 27,000 people packed into an indoor venue. Though San Diego is usually warm in the fall, it’s possible that the weather won’t be as welcoming to offsite exhibits as July is, which means the crowd will be packed into the San Diego Convention Center.

CCI is trying to help stay afloat by offering an in-person event, which is fair given that their 2020 event was free for everyone and their July 2021 event will also be available for anyone who wants to view it. This is a way to make some money, but is it the right thing to do?

Social media was ablaze Saturday night with fans venting their frustration over the move. Thanksgiving trended throughout the night, and most of the feedback was resoundingly negative.

Even if most of the country is vaccinated by November, lodging so many guests during one of the busiest holidays of the year will be a challenge. Travel is more expensive, too. Most notably, though, is the imposition the event will place on workers who have been unable to celebrate holidays with their families after missing out in 2020. From Convention Center workers to hotel and restaurant staff, it will be an even busier weekend than normal for everyone.

Economically, the event will be a boon for the struggling hospitality industry, but it could cause way more headaches than it will solve as people choose between staying home with family and coming to celebrate pop culture over the holiday weekend.