San Diego Comic-Con is canceled for the first time in 50 years

San Diego Comic-Con, one of the world’s biggest comic book conventions, is officially canceled. The convention will instead run next year, from July 22nd through July 25th, 2021.

Comic-Con, often referred to as SDCC, was scheduled to run from July 23rd through July 26th. People who have already purchased badges for the convention will have the opportunity to either request a full refund or transfer their badges to Comic-Con 2021, according to the organizers. Those who booked hotels via onPeak, the service used in partnership with SDCC, will also see their deposits refunded.

“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,” the organizers said in a statement.

San Diego Comic-Con is a major boom for the city. More than 130,000 people attended in 2018, with similar numbers reported in 2017 and 2016. People come from around the world, and the event is a massive boom to local San Diego businesses.

SDCC is the latest large event to be canceled because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. South by Southwest was canceled in late February. The Game Developers Conference, Mobile World Congress, Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Google’s Cloud Next conference, E3, and Google’s I/O developer conference are just some of the other conferences that have faced delays, cancellations, or were moved to being held virtually.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it’s the right decision,” David Glanzer, a spokesperson for the organization, said in a statement. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

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