New York Comic Con and more announce in-person events for late 2021

Following in the footsteps of last month’s announcement that San Diego Comic-Con would return to an in-person event over Thanksgiving weekend, organizers behind New York Comic Con say they will also be hosting a physical event later this year.

ReedPop, the company behind multiple pop culture conventions across the country, released a letter on Thursday stating they will be moving forward with an in-person schedule of events for several of its major conventions. However, the company also states that things will look a little different when compared to previous years’ conventions, as it implements new safety protocols to ensure a secure yet comfortable time for everyone.

The schedule begins with Florida Supercon, hosted by the Miami Beach Convention Center from September 10-12. Next, is New York Comic Con which will return to the Javits Center from October 7-10. Emerald City Comic Con is slated for December 2-5 at the Washington State Convention Center. Finally, Chicago’s C2E2, a hotspot event for Disney and Marvel announcements, will happen from December 10-12.

Some of the safety precautions to be implemented during these events include a reduced capacity at shows, with a limited number of badges available to ensure social distancing. They will also be requiring face coverings for everyone attending, including exhibitors and staff, which must be worn at all times while inside event venues. Additional sanitation and cleaning stations will be made available to the public, while there will be a “no handshakes, no high-fives, no hugs” policy implemented as well.

On-sale dates for badges and application deadlines for vendors and press members have yet to be announced. Obviously, it’s also a little too early to know anything about any guests or panels that might take place at any of these events this far out.

Many of these precautions were previously announced to be part of this year’s events until the pandemic got so bad that everything went virtual. With the COVID-19 vaccination becoming more widely available and the number of vaccinated adults increasing daily, organizers are understandably in a hurry to get back to the old way of doing things.

It’s no secret that these conventions mean big business for the local economies, but after over a year of social distancing, will fans be ready to face convention-level crowds again (even at reduced capacities)? Guess we will have to wait to find out.

How do you feel about returning to in-person conventions? Let us know in the comments section below.