MegaCon Orlando replaces 2020 convention with ‘Limited Edition’ Halloween weekend, will return March 2021

Updated, 11:30 a.m. | MegaCon Orlando has canceled their full-sized 2020 event, and will return on March 18-21, 2021. Organizers posted an update to their website that, “based on the developments globally and in Florida that COVID-19 continues to present,” they will replace this year’s event with a “Limited Edition” Halloween weekend from Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at the Orange County Convention Center, limited to 25,000 tickets. If you already had a ticket, it will automatically transfer to the new event.
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MegaCon Orlando, the Southeast’s largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming event, was postponed from April to June, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even newer dates now published on the Orange County Convention Center’s website Wednesday night indicated the popular event could be moved yet again, to much later in the year. It was instead cancelled, the next full MegaCon Orlando to take place March 18-21, 2021, with a “Limited Edition” Halloween weekend now scheduled Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

While the convention center’s updates page (and the MegaCon Orlando website) still showed the hopeful new dates of June 4-7 on Wednesday night, those dates disappeared from the convention center’s online calendar, reappearing as a new calendar entry indicating MegaCon will start Friday, Oct. 30, and end Sunday, Nov. 1.

Even though the new dates suggest a three-day-long event instead of four, the location is listed as the North/South Concourse, with an anticipated attendance of 75,000 people. That sure looks like a new date for MegaCon. (The new Limited Edition attendance limit was lowered to 25,000.)

Eagle-eyed Orlando Weekly reporter Seth Kubersky spotted the new dates, part of his ongoing monitoring of venues to see how attractions and events are adapting in the age of social distancing. We reached out to the convention center to ask if the new dates are legit, and will update this post with their response.

Originally scheduled for April 16-19, MegaCon had been rounding up an impressive roster of talent, including “Weird Al” Yankovic, Saved by the Bell stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris), Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez, along with Brendan Fraser, John Leguizamo and Christina Ricci.

In January, the convention added a panel of cast members from The Office to the lineup for the very first time, including Brian Baumgartner (“Kevin Malone”), Leslie Baker (“Stanley Hudson”) and Creed Bratton. In February, they added the voice actors behind “Halo” and “Super Mario Bros.”

Some of the scheduled stars had been rebooked for June, with MegaCon releasing artwork promoting the newer June dates. If there is another new start date set for Oct. 30, everyone would have to be rescheduled again, assuming it’s safe by then to resume large public gatherings.

Keep an eye on MegaCon Orlando’s website to see they latest, including if they actually do move the event to October-November.

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