Ontario Calls Off Two Day Comic Con Due to Coronavirus Concerns

At this point, I'm fairly sure my Black Widow cosplay is doomed to live in my closet and will never see the light of day. 

Late Wednesday night, Oregon Governor Kate Brown called for all gatherings of 250 or more to be canceled for four weeks as part of the state's effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Border Town Comic Con, a two pop culture celebration, was scheduled to take place at the Four Rivers Cultural Center & Museum in Ontario on March 21 and 22. Shortly after the governor's announcement, the convention announced that their event falls under that under that umbrella of events and will NOT take place as originally planned.

According to the post on their Facebook page, they want to be as open and honest with their fans and vendors. They're still working through some key details like whether or not to postpone the event or simply cancel it for 2020 and finding the balance between refunding or holding on to reservations from their vendors and sponsors.

Border Town will continue to post updates through their Facebook page, but wanted to get their announcement as out as soon as possible so those who's arranged travel and lodging could make the proper adjustments or cancellations.

This announcement comes less than a week after Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle announced that they were postponing their four day event until later this summer. ECCC was expected to draw more than 90,000 people to Seattle to see headliners like the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Mark Ruffalo and Karen Gillan, the cast of Back to the Future (including Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd) and Star Wars's Anthony Daniels.

Coronavirus is just the latest bump in the road for pop culture conventions in our area. After one year the Treasure Valley Comic Con at the Nampa Civic Center cancelled their event to avoid competing with the nationally branded Wizard World Comic Con in Boise. Wizard World scheduled dates for a second year in Boise, only to pull out four months before the 2019 event.

At this time, the Treasure Valley does still have some great pop culture events that are scheduled to move forward as planned. Gem State Comic Con, a one day event, will take place at Expo Idaho on Saturday, April 4. The first year event will bring Carla Perez (Rita Repusla/Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers,) voice actress Anndi McAfee (Cera/The Land Before Time and Phoebe/Hey Arnold) and a few actors who had small roles in the original Star Wars trilogy to the Treasure Valley. You can view their full guest list HERE.

The Boise Library has also announced the dates for their two-day Boise Comic Arts festival for 2020. It's scheduled for Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30 at JUMP. The event is entering it's eighth year and accepting vendor applications through March 23.