Otakon 2020 Officially Cancelled Amidst Pandemic

Otakon 2020 has confirmed its cancellation plans today after weeks of careful deliberation. The decision was made in light of the ongoing pandemic which has put more than a billion people in isolate to prevent its spread. With many countries like the United States urging large gatherings to shut down, Otakon 2020 had little choice but to shut down this year, but the convention has plans to come back strong in 2021.

Taking to Twitter, the official page for Otakon confirmed its 2020 event has been cancelled in full. The convention said the decision was “painful” to make but the event’s team knew the choice was necessary. A full message was posted to Otakon’s website where convention chair Andrew Zerrlaut and president Nick Avgerinos shared their regrets with fans.

“We are very sad to announce that we must join the countless other events around the world and announce the cancellation of Otakon 2020. While we had been clinging to the last bits of hope that our later dates would allow us the potential to hold an event, on April 17th it was announced that our venue, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, would be converted into an Alternate Care Facility. After discussing the timelines with the Convention Center staff and Destination DC, even in the most optimistic scenario that the facility is not needed to be used they would still be in the move-out/clean up process by the dates of our event,” the statement reads.

In conjunction with this announcement, Otakon went ahead and announced its 2021 dates will be between August 6-8. If you had registered to attend the convention in 2020, you will automatically be put into the registration pool for 2021. You can request a refund if you need your 2020 registration fees back for any reasons with Otakon requesting you do so before May 31.

“We’d like to say thank you to our partners at Destination DC, Events DC, Experient, Hargrove, DSL, Simmons Security, and more.Thank you to all of our industry partners and guests, both foreign and domestic, and thank you to all of our artists and dealers,” the statement finishes. “To our members, thank you for your support and encouragement through this crisis.Our motto has always been “for fans, by fans”.This is truly a labor of love for us, and we will need your continuing support more than ever in the weeks and months to come.”

This cancellation is just one of several to impact the anime industry, and the convention circuit has been all but destroyed in the face of the novel coronavirus. Earlier this month, it was announced Anime Expo 2020 would be cancelled, but the news was overshadowed by the cancellation of San Diego Comic-Con. The annual event has never once been cancelled since it was founded, but the event’s board was forced to concede to the pandemic in what fans have called an unprecedented move.

Will you try to make up for this convention cancellation next year? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!