Wizard Brands, Inc. announced that it will push back their New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Portland Wizard World events because of COVID-19 restrictions.

As the 2021 convention slate starts to shape up, it is becoming clearer that shows scheduled for the first half of the year are in jeopardy of being moved back to later dates because the timeline of the vaccine distribution is vague and several states will likely be under restrictions as the convention season rolls on. Wizard World, in an attempt to get ahead of this scenario, has moved three shows back to later in 2021 or just simply delayed them till 2022 entirely. The schedule changes are as follows:

  • Wizard World New Orleans. Original Date: Jan. 8-10, 2021. New Date: January 7-9, 2022.
  • Wizard World Philadelphia. Original Date: Jan. 15-17, 2021. New Date: November 12-14, 2021.
  • Wizard World Portland. Original Date: Jan. 29-31, 2021. New Date: Jan. 28-30, 2022.

Attendees who have already purchased tickets for these events can use them for the rescheduled events, but there was no information given about the availability of refunds. Wizard World will address artists, exhibitors, and others show associates about the new dates via a later communication.

Other large conventions have had to adjust for the first half of 2021. Gen Con pushed back its badge registration (see "Gen Con Pushes Back Badge Registration and Event Submission"), and BookExpo was retired by ReedPop (see "First of the Summer 2021 Shows Falls").