Dragon Con Cancelled for 2020, Announces Virtual Event

This year’s Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, is cancelled. The move comes as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The news follows the cancellation of Dragon Con’s yearly cosplay parade. A virtual event is to be held by the convention’s organizers in place of the annual gathering. A message posted to the event’s Twitter account reads, “After an exhaustive attempt to consider and uncover every possible option to hosting a safe and much-needed #DragonCon this year, it has become apparent that we cannot, in good faith, move forward with our 2020 event. We are heartbroken to make this announcement, but do so with the support of you, our fans, our partners, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Main Office, and City of Atlanta Government. For that, we thank you.

“While we aren’t able to welcome you back in person this September, we will be taking our 2020 event virtual this Labor Day weekend with a free to the universe experience. Keep those calendars marked and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks… In the meantime, we just ask our fans to be like our favorite Mandalorian and never take off your mask in public. Stay safe and we will look forward to seeing you in person next year.”

Dragon Con occurs each year in Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend. The convention’s website describes the event as “the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe. Call us a phenomenon, call us one of the most well attended pop-culture conventions in the country, call us the most fan fun you can have in five days: Dragon Con is where you want to be on Labor Day Weekend.”

Other conventions, including San Diego Comic-Con, have canceled their 2020 events due to the pandemic.San Diego Comic-Con released a statement in April confirming that the annual event would skip 2020. “For the first time in its 50-year history San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), the organizers behind the annual pop culture celebration, announced today with deep regret, that there will be no Comic-Con in 2020,” the statement reads. “The event will instead return to the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021. 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, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer. 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.”