My Annual List of Florida’s Pop Culture Events: 2020, COVID-19 Update

NOTE: I stopped editing this around November 2020.

The story so far… Each year I write a blog post about the Florida pop culture convention scene in an attempt to keep some semblance of an archive of local history. In mid-February I posted the 2020 edition and then, quite suddenly, the world went to hell in a hand basket.

Since then, I’ve spent my “blog time” updating a post I created back in March tracking pop culture events globally that were being impacted by the Coronavirus/COVID-19.

Today I decided to focus back on the Sunshine State and look at the local impact here. The effect in Florida’s con scene began to be felt in earnest in early March when CEO Dreamland (an annual video game tournament) opened their doors to attendees. The United States began announcing forthcoming restrictions as CEO Dreamland was happening, and the event’s owner, Alex Jebailey, live tweeted the experience. You can start with this tweet and work your way forward. It’s worth reading based on his transparency of everything happening throughout the entire weekend.

Regarding Florida: this post contains everything I’ve tracked down thus far. I’ll continue to update it as further announcements are made. Red means the event is cancelled indefinitely, until 2021, or the it is allegedly planning to find new 2020 dates with nothing announced yet. Green means the event has rescheduled into later in 2020. I’ve opted to sort these by their new dates to spot overlaps.

• JAN 4-5, Spaced Out Hall of Heroes mini-Comic Con at MOSH (Jacksonville)
• JAN 5-12, Awesome Games Done Quick (Orlando)
• JAN 12, DeLand Comic and Collectibles Show (Deland)
• JAN 12, Orlando Toy and Comic Con (Orlando)
• JAN 17-20, Otronicon (Orlando)
• JAN 18-19, Central Florida Comic Con (Lakeland)
• JAN 19, Jacksonville Anime Day (Jacksonville)
• JAN 24-27, Colossalcon Cruise (Cape Canaveral, aboard a cruise ship)
• FEB 1, SSA+S Toracon (Sarasota)
• FEB 7, GAAM Love Night (Jacksonville)
• FEB 7-9, Rapiercon (Jacksonville)
• FEB 8, Space Coast Comic Con (Cocoa)
• FEB 9, Tampa Bay Toy Expo (Tampa)
• FEB 9-16, ConVoluted CON Cruise (Miami, aboard a cruise ship)
• FEB 15, SyFy Bartow (Bartow)
• FEB 20-23, Coastal Magic Convention (Daytona Beach)
• FEB 21-23, Escape Winter Convention (Orlando)
• FEB 22, BTL Collectibles Show (Miami) – monthly; see convention site for details.
• FEB 22, Florida Game Con at USF (Tampa)
• FEB 23, North Florida Pop Up Toy Show (Jacksonville)
• FEB 28-MAR 1, Pensacon (Pensacola)
• FEB 29, FreeCon (Tallahassee)
• MAR 1-8, Star Trek: The Cruise IV (Miami, aboard a cruise ship)
• MAR 7, MY-CON aka Mystic-Con (Orlando)
• MAR 7, Superfancon – Comics & Toy Show (Miami)
• MAR 7-8, Comic Book Connection (Jacksonville)
• MAR 7-8, Infinity Con Lake City (Lake City)
• MAR 7-14, JoCo Cruise (Ft. Lauderdale)
• MAR 8, Retro Toy-Con Orlando (Orlando)
• MAR 13-15, CEO Dreamland (Orlando) 
• MAR 14, SwampCon (Gainesville) – canceled
• MAR 15, CalusaCon (Fort Myers)
• MAR 18-21, The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (Orlando)
• MAR 20-22, TFcon Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• MAR 28, Orlando Anime Day (Orlando) – canceled
• APR 4, FLPolyCon (Lakeland) – canceled
• APR 4, Hall of Heroes CosCon (Jacksonville) – canceled
• APR 4-5, Hatsume Fair (Miami) – canceled
• APR 11-12, UFOCon Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• APR 18-22, CruiseCon (Port Canaveral, aboard a cruise ship) – canceled
• APR 25-26, Retro Pop Con (Miami) – canceled
• MAY 2, Beaches Comic Con (Jacksonville) – canceled
• MAY 23-24, CosplayCon.com Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• MAY 29-31, QFX East (Tampa) – canceled
• MAY 30, TallahasseeCon (Tallahassee) – presumed canceled; no update since May 21 was APR 25
• MAY 31, Brick City Comic & Toy Show (Ocala) – canceled was MAR 22
• JUN 4-7, MEGACON Orlando (Orlando) – was APR 16-19 – canceled *
• JUN 6-7, Infinity Con Tallahassee (Tallahassee) – canceled
• JUN 12-13, Gaming Community Expo (Orlando) – canceled
• JUN 13, River City Wrestling Con (Jacksonville) – canceled
• JUN 14, Orlando Area Toy Collectors – Summer Show (Apopka)
• JUN 20, Hero Hype Tampa (Tampa) – postponed was MAY 9
• JUL 1-5, Dice Tower East (Orlando) – canceled
• JUL 3-5, Florida Supercon (Miami) – was MAY 8-10 – canceled
• JUL 4-5, OtakuFest (Miami) – canceled
• JUL 10-12, Tampa Bay Comic Con (Tampa) – canceled
• JUL 13-17, GACUCon (Miami, aboard a cruise ship) – canceled
• JUL 17-19, Collective Con (Jacksonville) – postponed was MAR 20-22
• JUL 17-19, Con of Thrones (Orlando) – canceled
• JUL 18, Clearwater Toy Show (Clearwater)
• JUL 18, Hero Hype Orlando (Orlando)
• JUL 23-25, MetroCon (Tampa) – canceled
• JUL 31-AUG 2, LeakyCon Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• AUG 1, Quest Con Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• AUG 8, Orlando Anime Day (Orlando) – canceled was JUN 20
• AUG 10, Sunrise ComicCon (Sunrise) – canceled
• AUG 14-16, Omni Fandom Expo (Orlando) – canceled was MAR 20-22
• AUG 14-16, Spooky Empire, Spring (Orlando) – canceled was MAY 22-24
• AUG 15, Lakeland Toy Show (Lakeland)
• AUG 21-23, MegaPlex (Orlando) – canceled
• AUG 22, SWFL Space Con (Fort Myers) – canceled was JUN 13
• AUG 22-23, Infinity Toy & Comic Convention (Orlando) – canceled
• AUG 22-23, Mizucon (Miami) – canceled was MAY 23-24
• AUG 29-30, Ultracon of South Florida (West Palm Beach)
• SEP 5, Hero Hype Anime + Gaming Expo (Orlando) – canceled was MAY 9
• SEP 4-6, Kaiyōcon (Daytona Beach) abandoned
• SEP 11-13, Fanboy Expo Orlando (Orlando) – canceled was AUG 14-16
• SEP 11-13, Supernatural Official Convention (Orlando) – canceled
• SEP 18-20, Ancient City Con (St. Augustine) – canceled
• SEP 19-20, Ocala Comic Con (Ocala) – canceled was JUN 13-14
• SEP 25-27, CEOtaku (Orlando) – canceled
• SEP 25-27, Minecraft Festival (Orlando) – canceled
• SEP 25-27, Necronomicon Science Fiction Convention (Tampa) – canceled
• SEP 25-27, Star Con Orlando (Orlando) – canceled
• OCT 2-4, Fantasm (Orlando) – canceled
• OCT 3-4, Daytona Beach Comic Convention (Daytona Beach) – canceled
• OCT 3-4, WasabiCon (Jacksonville) – canceled
• OCT 10, Hero Hype Miami (Miami) – postponed was MAR 14, then MAY 30
• OCT 16-18, EXP Con (St. Augustine) – canceled
• OCT 18, Melbourne Toy and Comic Con (Melbourne) – canceled (confirmed via promotor directly)
• OCT 30, Hurricane Who Reunion (Orlando) – canceled 
• OCT 30-NOV 1, Lumi-Con (Tampa) – canceled
• OCT 30-NOV 1, MEGACON Orlando: Limited Edition (Orlando) – canceled
• OCT 30-NOV 1, Sinister Nights (Miami) – canceled
• NOV 6-8, Anime Festival Orlando (Orlando) – canceled was JUN 19-21
• NOV 7-8, Gamers on the Edge 4 the Kids (Tampa) – canceled was JUL 25-26
• NOV 8, Tampa Collectors Extravaganza (Tampa) was AUG 9
• NOV 13-15, Anime Iwai (Fort Lauderdale) – canceled
• NOV 13-15, Rangerstop Convention (Orlando) – canceled
• NOV 21, SW-FloridaCon (Fort Myers)
• DEC 5, Keiser Super Con (Orlando) – postponed was MAR 20, then JUN 13
• DEC 11-13, CEO Fighting Game Championships (Orlando) – postponed was JUN 26-28
• DEC 18-20, Holiday Matsuri (Orlando) – canceled

* MEGACON Orlando 2020 was officially canceled, but the owners are running a scaled down version of the convention in October with an attendance cap of 25,000 attendees.

** NotCon at Sea departed from TX in 2020, and will come back to Florida in 2021 at King Con Cruise.