Star Wars Celebration 2020 Cancelled
by Erik Amaya
At this point, it will be a miracle if any fan conventions occur this year.
Star Wars Celebration 2020, to have been held at the Anaheim Convention Center in August, has been cancelled according to a post on StarWars.com. But in a slight bit of good news, the current plan is to hold the 2022 Star Wars Celebration at the same venue in Anaheim, California from August 18-21 of that year.
The move has been long-expected as California continues to discourage large gatherings like concerts in an attempt to balance precautions to reduce COVID-19 virus exposure and re-opening the economy. Though it was hoped events in the latter half the year might go ahead as planned, it is now clear fan conventions and concerts will have to wait until 2021 at the earliest to resume.
And since the Anaheim Convention Center typically hosts the D23 Expo every other August, it is easy to see why Star Wars Celebrations is also taking next year off; D23 will presumably occur there next August.
Originally designed to coincide with the release of new films beginning with Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Celebration has taken multi-year breaks before; the longest occurring between the 2002 and 2005 shows. It also took 2018 off in anticipation of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The five-day convention is known for premiering Star Wars trailers for movies, TV shows, and video games, but it is also a surprisingly intimate gathering of fans. And that spirit of friends coming together may be the thing people miss most about Celebration in a few months time.
Currently, it is unknown if likely announcements — like a trailer for The Mandalorian‘s second season — will still come around in August, but one imagine Lucasfilm will offer one or two video in lieu of the full Celebration programing.
Tickets for the 2020 Celebration can be transferred to 2022, refunded, or applied to merchandise from the Star Wars Celebration store. Exclusive merch made for the 2020 show will be made available for sale in the not-too-distant future and those transferring their tickets to 2022 will receive and exclusive pin. Meanwhile, hotel reservations made through the Celebration portal will be automatically cancelled.
