Update: BookExpo and BookCon announce postponement
The team behind YallWest announced that the West Coast YA book festival is canceled Wednesday morning in response to growing concerns about the spread of Covid-19.
The festival would have taken place on April 24 and 25 in Santa Monica, CA.
“In the interest of public health and keeping our readers, authors, volunteers, and sponsors safe, it is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we have decided to cancel YALLWEST 2020,” YallWest said in a statement. “We will return in spring of 2021, and focus our efforts this fall on the 10th anniversary of YALLFest in Charleston.”
The announcement follows the cancellation of numerous conferences across various industries around the world. Austin-based SXSW, a massive media conference, was canceled last week for similar reasons. Such cancelations are expected to negatively impact the economy, according to CNN.
BookExpo and BookCon, which together make up the largest conference in the publishing industry, will still take place May 27 to 31 in New York City, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
“We do not anticipate any changes or delays to our event. Our mission is to serve our customers as best we can, and we plan to provide a place for you to conduct business in these difficult times,” BookExpo event director Jenny Martin said in the statement. “The publishing industry is based on personal connections—and many rely on the important business relationships made during BookExpo. We will continue to take necessary precautions to facilitate an environment for the entire community to unite, make meaningful new connections, and discover new titles.”
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