San Diego Comic-Con Canceled Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

San Diego Comic-Con will not be opening its doors this summer.

The largest fan convention in the United States has officially been canceled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Comic-Con International revealed Friday.

SDCC has been around for 50 years, and this marks the first time the event will not take place.

The event will instead resume at the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021.

Additionally, SDCC has revealed that individuals who purchased badges for this year's event will have the option to get a refund or transfer the badges to next year's event.

Badge holders will be contacted within the next week by email with instructions on how to request a refund.

On top of that onPeak, Comic-Con's official hotel affiliate, will cancel all hotel reservations, and refund deposits made through them.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” said SDCC spokesman David Glanzer.

“We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

Here is the full statement from Comic Con:

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 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.

Similarly, WonderCon Anaheim, which was to have been held April 10-12, 2020 will return to the Anaheim Convention Center from March 26-28, 2021.

In addition to their conventions, Comic-Con has been planning a major renovation of Balboa Park’s Federal Building to be completed for the grand opening of the Comic-Con Museum in the summer of 2021.

However, the COVID-19 situation has had an effect on those efforts as well. As such, they will be rephasing the Museum’s initially planned major renovations, but will not scale back the experience to be offered to visitors upon the Museum’s grand opening.

They anticipate releasing building plans illustrating the Museum’s transformation and sharing more information about those efforts in the coming months. SDCC also announced that individuals who purchased badges for Comic-Con 2020 will have the option to request a refund or transfer their badges to Comic-Con 2021. All 2020 badge holders will receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to request a refund.

Exhibitors for Comic-Con 2020 will also have the option to request a refund or transfer their payments to Comic-Con 2021 and will also receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to process their request.

In the next few days onPeak, Comic-Con’s official hotel affiliate, will be canceling all hotel reservations and refunding all deposits made through them.

There is no need for anyone who booked through onPeak to take any action, including trying to cancel their reservations online or contacting the company via phone as the process will be handled automatically.

Those who booked rooms through onPeak will be notified when refunds have been completed.