By: Gracie Swind, Contributing Writer
Summer is the season for the sun, beaches, and barbeques, but for nerds, it’s also convention season. For over a decade, Tampa Bay has hosted two of the largest anime and comic conventions in the state of Florida, METROCON and Tampa Bay Comic Con.
Tampa Convention Center is located near Tampa’s Riverwalk and its connecting hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton, which is a popular choice for convention-goers to lodge at.
This year, however, both conventions have been forced to face the first full convention cancellations in their respective histories, as COVID-19 surges through Florida and the world at large.
All ticket-holders and vendors who had already purchased their admission for Tampa Bay Comic Con 2020 have had their tickets and vendor slots moved automatically to next year’s dates; Tampa Bay Comic Con has a strict ‘no refunds’ policy, so this is in accordance with their standard terms and conditions.
On May 19, in the wake of the economic shutdown in April, METROCON made the decision to cancel their event – scheduled for the end of July – in an effort to protect the community and prevent any heavy losses should they be cancelled forcefully by the city. Within days of METROCON cancelling, Tampa Bay Comic Con released a statement on their website explaining that they would be moving forward with their plans to hold their own convention scheduled for early July.
The gorgeous Tampa Convention Center plays host to both METROCON and Tampa Bay Comic Con, and boasts a massive 600,000 total square feet.
The smaller convention expressed an attitude of positivity and quoted the city of Tampa’s projection to be in Phase III of reopening come the days of the event; they also outlined heightened safety measures and checks that would be in place to ensure the safety of the guests and the success of the event. On June 19, when Tampa mayor Jane Castor’s executive order for masks and increased social distancing measures went into effect for the city of Tampa, Tampa Bay Comic Con adapted their safety plans to include the requirement of masks for any attendees in accordance with the mayor’s order.
Each year, METROCON features a different ‘versus’ theme for their event, hiring cosplayers to act as their mascots and engage with convention-goers; last year’s theme was Virtue vs. Vice.
Unfortunately, their addendum was short-lived, as four days later on June 24, Tampa Bay Comic Con announced the cancellation of their event due to the spike of tested cases being reported in Florida. The day this article is being released would have marked the first day of Tampa Bay Comic Con 2020.
METROCON has begun to net over 10,000 attendees per year, filling up the nearby hotels and gracing the streets of downtown Tampa with their costumed cohorts over the course of their weekend event.
METROCON and Tampa Bay Comic Con have both announced the dates for their respective events next year, when both conventions anticipate it will be safe and possible to host the nerds of Tampa Bay – and Florida – once again.
Next year, METROCON plans to take back Tampa Convention Center for the weekend of July 23-25, 2021.
