Another addition to the announcements of event cancellation is Anime Expo (AX) 2020. Their official Twitter account posted the link to the official announcement on their website:
Ray Chiang, CEO of The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) – the company that has been organizing Anime Expo for 29 years – made the announcement. Below is an excerpt from the announcement on AX’s official website:
Dear Anime Expo Community,
This is a day my team and I hoped wouldn’t come, but it is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the cancellation of Anime Expo 2020. Our utmost concern is for the health and safety of our amazing Anime Expo community. We understand your disappointment as we are anime fans first and foremost too. As you can imagine, this was one of the most difficult decisions we have had to make in the 29 years of Anime Expo.
With the COVID-19 situation continually changing, as well as more restrictions in place worldwide and in our host city Los Angeles, we can’t in good faith move forward with this year’s event. We know it will affect all of you differently and we did not come to this decision lightly.
The announcement did mention a date for next year’s event:
It remains our goal to provide fans and industry partners from around the world with a safe space to come together to celebrate and share our love of anime. We are committed to bringing you the best of the best next year as we return to Los Angeles for our 30th anniversary on July 2-5, 2021!
Anime Expo (AX) started in 1991 as “Anime Con” by the members of UC Berkeley’s anime club, Cal Animage Alpha. It is the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America.
