Coronavirus Update: Otakon 2020 Canceled Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

Otakon joins the list of conventions delayed or canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Otakon 2020, which was scheduled to happen at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, was canceled after the convention center was turned into an Alternate Care Facility.

Nick Avgerinos, president and Andrew Zerrlaut, convention chair of Otakon, released a statement confirming the cancelation. The event was scheduled for July 31-Aug. 2.

“We are very sad to announce that we must join the countless other events around the world and announce the cancelation 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,” the statement read.

The organizers discussed with the convention center staff and Destination DC, even in the best of circumstances, the facility will not be ready by the dates of Otakon.

However, the organizers confirmed new dates for the event. “Otakon will return to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, August 6-8, 2021. All registrations for 2020 will automatically be registered for 2021. No additional action will be needed.”

Meanwhile, if anyone is unable to attend the event in 2021, or need to request for refunds, the organizers are making changes to their “standard no-refund policy for this year.” Ticket holders can fill out the refund request form from the website before Sunday (May 31).

Otakon is an annual convention organized to celebrate Asian pop culture like anime, manga, movies, music, and video games. The convention would have hosted video game music composers Takhiro Izutani, Manami Matsumae, and Harumi Fujita, Anime News Network reported. The event was founded in 1994, and in 2017, it moved to Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

According to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University, the global coronavirus death toll stands at 211,326. More than three million people remain infected with COVID-19 across the globe.

In the U.S., more than 56,000 people died due to this virus, and 988,451 people are coronavirus positive.