Star Wars Celebration, a major entertainment event that was slated to take place in late August in Anaheim, Calif., has been cancelled, raising new questions about the fate of this year’s Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, run by the same company and currently slated to take place the prior week.
The organizer of the events, Reedpop, rescheduled the popular Emerald City Comicon in Seattle from March to August in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has not announced any plans to further postpone or cancel the event.
Organizers made the announcement about Star Wars Celebration on Monday. The event, centered around the popular sci-fi film series, was planned for Aug. 27-30. It will return to Southern California in August 2022. In a message on its website, organizers said the health and safety of fans, attendees, exhibitors, guests and staff was the No. 1 priority.
“Due to the global impact of the COVID-19 virus and in speaking with local and state authorities on the latest public health guidelines related to indoor conventions, we have made the decision to cancel Star Wars Celebration for 2020,” the announcement read, with added details about ticket transfers, refunds and more.
Emerald City Comic Con 2020 is still a go for Aug. 21-23 as far as that event’s website is concerned. The annual pop-culture extravaganza was originally scheduled to run March 12-15 in the Washington State Convention Center, but was pushed back due to health concerns. Numerous events have been cancelled and moved around the world because of the health crisis — from concerts and conferences to graduation ceremonies and sporting events.
In a March 6 note to ECCC attendees, Reedpop said it remained “determined and committed to running” the event, and at the time was working closely with Visit Seattle and the Washington State Convention Center to secure the alternate summer date.
A statement currently linked from the top of the ECCC website, dated June 4, says that “Reed Exhibitions is actively and continuously monitoring the COVID-19 virus outbreak in line with local, state and federal authorities and public health advice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).”
Fans and attendees of the giant pop culture celebration, which attracted 98,000 people in 2019, are advised to keep checking the website for up-to-date information.
GeekWire has contacted ECCC and Reedpop for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
