The 2020 Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) has officially been postponed from its planned March date to sometime in the summer, according to a statement released by the event organizers with Reedpop.

“We have been closely monitoring the situation around the COVID-19 virus in Seattle, and, after many hours of conversation internally and consultation with local government officials and the tourism bureau, we have decided to move next week’s Emerald City Comic Con to summer 2020 with date and detail announcement forthcoming. We did everything that we could to run the event as planned, but ultimately, we are following the guidance of the local public health officials indicating that conventions should now be postponed,” the statement reads. “We know that this decision is going to greatly impact many of our individual creators, small businesses and service workers. To those whose careers depend on ECCC – we will do everything that we can over the coming days and weeks to highlight your work and we ask that our entire community support you as we realize your personal livelihoods may be impacted.”

Reedpop added that they will be sending out communications to badge holders so that they can get a refund on their tickets, with refunds being processed within the next 30 days. They also said that they are dedicated to still holding the convention later in the year, working with Visit Seattle and the Washington State Convention Center to secure alternate dates.

More information about the postponement can be found at the ECCC website.