Lexington Comic Con Delayed Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

The Lexington Comic Con has officially delayed their convention due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic. The convention is the latest in a string of cancellations and postponements across the entertainment industry, including Emerald City Comic Con, South by Southwest, Coachella, and WonderCon. The decision comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued guidelines recommending that people stay away form large gatherings in order to prevent spread of the virus, which has been confirmed in most American states at this point. US President Donald Trump has also significantly limited travel from outside the country, and a number of major corporations are offering or sometimes mandating that employees telecommute rather than coming into the office.

The convention will be postponed from the weekend of March 20 until the weekend of May 14, with fans’ tickets being honored without any further action needed from the buyers. Fans who want to get a refund or cannot attend the new date are encouraged to reach out to convention organizers, with the caveat that the announcement will almost certainly create a backlog of calls and emails that will slow response time.

You can check out the convention’s official statement below.

First off, I want everyone to know that this was not an easy choice to make. It is quite honestly the hardest thing I have ever had to do in business. After much discussion with stakeholders, the building, and on the advice of the city, we believe that it is now the right decision (if that exists) to postpone the event this year.

The good news is that a significant effort has been made over the last week to make an effective backup plan for the show and we have a date on the calendar at the convention center for May 14-17th. We are now able to roll the entirety of the show to that date and we are working in concert with the arena and hotels to make the transition a seamless one.

We are aware that none of us knows the state of the world in May but we hold out hope that by then, this crisis will have resolved itself. Further updates may come but this is the plan going forward for #LCTC2020

Ticketed Attendees – We will simply be changing the date of the convention in our ticketing system and your tickets will still be valid for the new date of May 14-17th. If you cannot attend on the new date then simply do not show up and after the event (when we see who did not check in) all of the unchecked tickets will be transferred to our 2021 event once those tickets go on sale. This will be an automated process – You will not need to email anyone or do anything. Furthermore – To sweeten the deal for you a bit, we are offering the first 5000 checked in attendees who DO attend our May 2020 Lexington event a free ticket to our June 6-7th event in Huntington, WV.

PHOTO OPS Purchasers – We will be attempting to re-book every guest (even those who have cancelled in the last few days) for our May date. At this time, we believe that a great portion of those guests will still be attending the event and that your photo op will still be valid. Once those are confirmed we will announce future cancelations and refund availability as it becomes available. In the meantime, you can reach out to Celeb Photo Ops at info@celebphotoops.com if you need something swapped or refunded.

Those with hotel reservations in our “Fan Block” – We are working with the hotels to come up with a solution for moving your reservations and ensuring you are not charged any deposits or fees. I will have more info on that as soon as it becomes available – We are not sure yet how the hotels will decide to handle this but are committed to seeing the process through. Give the hotels a couple days and we will hit the ground running on this.
Those with airfares booked – Luckily the airlines are willing to change most flights with no change fees right now. We suggest you contact them as soon as possible and push your flight to May 14-17th.

Vendors – Your table is still reserved, and the floor plan is still set for May 14-17th. I will be sending out a vendor info email in the coming days and it will outline steps we will take if you cannot attend/vend in May. Any tables vacated due to conflicts will go on sale on the website in the next month.

Guests / Agents – We hope that we can simply rebook everyone for the May 14-17 date and execute these appearances that the folks here in Kentucky want to see happen! We realize that some of you will have schedule conflicts, but we are hoping to keep the original guest list as close as possible. We will be in private contact with each of you in the coming week.

Contractors / Volunteers / Staff – We will be having internal communications with all of you in the coming week. As of now the plan is simply a pause for two months and then all contracts will be executed on the May 14-17 date and absolutely nothing changes except the date.

I am aware that many of you will be upset at our decision to do this. Please know that I do it only because we feel like we owe the fans a safe environment for a convention. My team has been stretched to near breaking over the last 7 days trying to make this all work to the best of our abilities, and it has become obvious over the last 24 hours that we are fighting a losing battle.
Again, I want to assure you all that the process of moving the date will be as seamless as possible. We hold out hope that you guys will continue to support the show as you always have and come join us in May. Please know that we are only doing this out of concern for your safety at the event.

In closing – please do not feel the need to call Rupp Arena or my office – The poor lady at Rupp’s switchboard is already inundated with calls about basketball games and other cancelations. They do not need our load as well. Again – All ticket changes will be done automatically, and your ticket IS STILL VALID for the May 14-17 date; You do not need to call or email.

Please be aware that this statement will prompt a massive email load and if you do email me (or my team) it may take a little while to get them all answered.