Advertisement

Culture

Fan Expo Canada plans to hold in-person event in October

A photo of a crowd at Fan Expo Canada

Annual pop culture convention Fan Expo Canada is scaling back and moving dates – but organizers are still planning to hold an in-person event.

In a statement, the team behind Fan Expo said the late-summer convention will move to October 22-24 and limit tickets to 25,000. It will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s south building.

“We’re so close to being able to gather and celebrate fandom together but the dates we had been counting down to are just a bit too soon,” the statement reads. “Toronto is on a path to safely reopen but now, more than ever, it’s important we all do our part.”

Fan Expo was originally scheduled to take place August 26-29, so fans that puchrased tickets and can’t make the new dates must request a refund by June 30. Otherwise, tickets will be transferred automatically to the new dates and Thursday ticketholders will be upgraded to a Friday ticket for October. Youth tickets will be upgraded to adult tickets at no extra cost.

Organizers ultimately cancelled last year’s Fan Expo after initially rescheduling a scaled-down version for November.

Under Ontario’s three-step reopening plan, “larger” indoor and outdoor gatherings will be allowed by August if 70 to 80 per cent of adults have at least on dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 25 per cent are fully vaccinated.

At that time, restrictions would lift on indoor events and activities including gyms, cinemas, performing arts facilities, restaurants, bars and museums but there will be capacity limits.

However, it’s not yet clear what the situation will be like with the U.S. border and travel restrictions come fall. Fan Expo is a big tourist draw and regularly features appearances by international celebrities. They event typically attracts more than 100,000 attendees over four days.

This year’s lineup will be announced in “the coming months,” organizers say.

The Royal Winter Agricultural Fair is another major fall event that is planning to proceed in-person. It is scheduled to take place from November 15-24.

@nowtoronto

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.