San Diego Comic-Con Canceled For The First Time Ever Due To COVID-19

After weeks of speculation, it’s finally official. San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s oldest and most celebrated festival of comics and popular culture, announced today that it has canceled the 2020 edition of the show, scheduled for July 23-26, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.

This is the first time since the show began in 1969 that the show will not go on as planned. Comic-Con International, the organization that puts on SDCC and its sister show, WonderCon (originally scheduled for April, also canceled for 2020), expects Comic-Con to return to the San Diego Convention center July 22-25, 2021.

The writing had been on the wall since this week’s announcement by California governor Gavin Newsom that mass gatherings were “not in the cards” even after the state lifts its COVID-19 lockdown later this spring. Gatherings don’t get much larger than Comic-Con, whose crowded aisles and long lines don’t allow for much social distancing.

The news was posted on the convention website this morning:

“Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, [organizers] had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer,” reads the announcement. “Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.”

Comic-Con easily fills the 135,000 capacity of the San Diego Convention Center each summer and draws countless more to the city for an array of offsite events and branded experiences. The convention generates an estimated $149 million to the San Diego region, with $88 million in direct attendee spending, filling 64,800 hotel beds, according to estimates by the Convention Center.

All that is now on hold. SDCC announced that individuals who purchased badges for Comic-Con 2020 will have the option to request a refund or transfer their badges to Comic-Con 2021. All 2020 badge holders will receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to request a refund. Exhibitors for Comic-Con 2020 will also have the option to request a refund or transfer their payments to Comic-Con 2021 and will also receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to process their request.

In the next few days onPeak, Comic-Con’s official hotel affiliate, will be canceling all hotel reservations and refunding all deposits made through them. According to CCI, there is no need for anyone who booked through onPeak to take any action, including trying to cancel their reservations online or contacting the company via phone as the process will be handled automatically. Those who booked rooms through onPeak will be notified when refunds have been completed.

Beyond its impact on the city, Comic-Con has also become the meeting point for the entertainment, publishing and videogaming industries, and a main launching pad for Hollywood blockbusters and streaming series. With most of the entertainment world bunkered down for COVID-19, it’s likely that many of the show’s largest exhibitors would not have made the trip this year in any case.

The news surely comes as a disappointment to fans, exhibitors and professionals who plan their year around attending the event, but it’s also been met with understanding. “As one of San Diego’s Comic-Con International’s original team of originators, I fully agree with and appreciate this wise and humanitarian decision,” wrote cartoonist Scott Shaw on Facebook upon hearing the news, echoing the sentiments of many longtime SDCC denizens.

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