List of events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many events around the world to be cancelled or postponed. Among the most prominent events to be affected were the 2020 Summer Olympics and Expo 2020, which both have been postponed to 2021, and the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was cancelled entirely. A number of events have been modified to remove a live audience or to be purely held over teleconference.
Events cancelled
Award ceremonies
- 21st British Soap Awards
- 15th Canadian Folk Music Awards
- 40th Golden Raspberry Awards
- 19th Lunas del Auditorio
- 2020 Laurence Olivier Awards
Conventions, conferences, and trade shows
- A-Kon 2020
- Amazon re:MARS 2020
- 2020 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting
- 2020 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting
- 2020 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting
- 2020 American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting
- 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting
- 2020 American Physical Society March Meeting
- Anime Boston 2020
- Anime Central 2020
- Anime Expo 2020
- AnimeJapan 2020
- Anime North 2020
- Animethon 2020
- Anthrocon 2020
- Astana Economic Forum 2020
- BlizzCon
- Brasil Game Show 2020
- Calgary Expo 2020
- CinemaCon 2020
- Comiket 98
- Computex Taipei 2020
- Crunchyroll Expo 2020
- DEF CON 2020
- E3 2020
- EGX 2020
- Electromagnetic Field 2020
- Emerald City Comic Con 2020
- Eurofurence 26
- Evolution Championship Series 2020
- Facebook F8
- FanimeCon 2020
- FanX 2020
- Furry Weekend Atlanta 2020
- Gamescom 2020
- 2020 GenCon
- 2020 Geneva Motor Show
- Google I/O
- :de:Linuxtag#Linuxtage in Österreich|Grazer Linuxtage
- ITB Berlin 2020
- Japan Expo 2020
- L.A. Screenings
- Leipzig Book Fair 2020
- LinuxFest Northwest
- London Book Fair 2020
- Midwest Furfest 2020
- Midwest Gaming Classic
- Milan Furniture Fair 2020
- MWC Barcelona-Mobile World Congress
- Montreal Comiccon
- NAB Show 2020
- 2020 North American International Auto Show
- Nadeshicon
- NRA Annual Meeting
- Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting 2020
- Otafest 2020
- Otakon 2020
- Otakuthon 2020
- Paris Games Week 2020
- PAX West and PAX Aus 2020
- PortConMaine 2020
- QuakeCon 2020
- Rose City Comic Con 2020
- RuPaul's DragCon L.A.
- Sakura-Con 2020
- San Diego Comic-Con 2020
- SIGGRAPH 2020
- The Sons of the Desert 22nd International Convention
- South by Southwest
- St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2020
- Star Wars Celebration 2020
- Tucson Festival of Books
- Tokyo Game Show 2020
- Toronto Comicon 2020
- TwitchCon Europe 2020
- TwitchCon San Diego 2020
- WonderCon 2020
Military events
- Defender of the Fatherland/Victory Day Parade in Kazakhstan
- Trooping of the Colour in London
- 61st public duties season of the Ceremonial Guard of the Canadian Forces
- Bulgarian Armed Forces Day Parade
- Reunification Day parade
Religious events
- Christian Holy Week events in Rome
- Easter fires
- New Orleans St. Joseph's Night & Parade
- Umrah pilgrimage
- Holy Week in Spain
- Nyepi in Indonesia
- Etekaf and Mid-Sha'ban in Iran
- Royal Maundy money service in Great Britain
- Vesak in Thailand
- Buddha’s Birthday in Australia and South Korea
- Thingyan events in Myanmar
- Ramadan bazaar in Malaysia and Singapore
- Dancing procession of Echternach in Echternach, Luxembourg
Sporting events
Other events
- Afrikaburn 2020
- ANZAC Day celebrations in Australia and New Zealand
- Boomtown 2020
- Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic
- Calgary Stampede
- 2020 Canadian National Exhibition and the Canadian International Air Show in Toronto
- 2020 Celebration of Light fireworks festival in Vancouver
- Christchurch Attack memorial in New Zealand
- Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
- EAA AirVenture 2020 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin
- 2020 GRIP field campaign, the largest Arctic campaign in history
- Eurovision Song Contest 2020
- 2020 Farnborough Airshow
- 2020 FIRST Championship
- 2020 Fleadh Cheoil
- 2020 Gay Pride Parades worldwide
- 33rd Annual Sheep Shearing Festival
- Governors Ball Music Festival 2020
- 831st Hafengeburtstag
- Hamburger Dom
- Hangout Music Festival 2020
- Hootie & the Blowfish's Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament and corresponding benefit concert
- Independence Day celebrations of Bangladesh on March 26
- 2020 International Biology Olympiad
- 2020 International Philosophy Olympiad
- 2020 International Physics Olympiad
- 2020 International Young Physicists' Tournament
- Kaamatan harvest festival
- Karneval der Kulturen 2020
- Labor Day Parades and Celebrations across North America
- Land Day protests in the Gaza Strip
- Luke Air Force Base 2020 Luke Days
- Mawazine 2020
- Miss America 2021, including associated state pageants
- Miss International 2020
- Miss World 2020
- Moros y cristianos festivals in towns and cities of Spain
- National Day celebrations of Greece on March 25
- National Day celebrations of Hungary on March 15
- National Day celebrations of Norway on May 17
- National Day celebrations of Zimbabwe on April 18
- Notting Hill Carnival in London
- 2020 National Geographic Bee
- 2020 Northern Lights Festival Boréal
- 2020 Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver
- Union Day celebrations in Tanzania on April 26
- 2020 NYC Pride March on June 28
- Oktoberfest 2020 across Germany
- 2020 Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 14 in New York City
- Saint Patrick's Day parades across Europe and North America
- 2020 Pokémon World Championships
- Celebrate Israel Paradein New York City
- San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, Spain
- Seville Fair, Spain
- Stagecoach Festival
- SunFest
- 2020 Stratford Festival
- La Tomatina in Buñol, Spain
- 2020 Sydney Royal Easter Show
- 2020 Toronto Caribbean Carnival
- Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow 2020
- Drum Corps International and Winter Guard International 2020 seasons
- Glastonbury 2020
- April Spring Friendship Art Festival
- Hamamatsu Kite Festival, Shingen Takeda Traditional Festival in Kofu and Shizuoka Festival in Japan
- International Women's Day events in Kazakhstan
- Vincy Mas carnival in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Wacken Open Air in Germany
- 2020 Concerts on the Commons
- 2020 Watch City Steampunk Festival
- 2021 Tournament of Roses Parade
Events postponed or suspended
Award ceremonies
- 93rd Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on February 28, 2021, postponed until April 25.
- 55th Academy of Country Music Awards, originally scheduled on April 5, postponed to September 16
- 47th Daytime Emmy Awards
- 31st Golden Melody Awards, originally scheduled on June 27, postponed to October 3
- 21st IIFA Awards, originally scheduled on 29 March and was to be held in Indore, postponed indefinitely
- 2020 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, originally scheduled on March 21, postponed to May 2 and was held virtually
- 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, originally scheduled on March 29, postponed indefinitely
- 2020 Billboard Music Awards, originally scheduled on April 29, postponed indefinitely
- 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards
- 74th Tony Awards
- 26th Fryderyk - Polish Music Awards
Beauty pageants
- Binibining Pilipinas 2020, originally scheduled for April 26, postponed indefinitely
- Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2021, originally scheduled for August 8, postponed indefinitely
- Miss Finland 2020, originally scheduled for May 22, postponed to July 25
- Miss Universe China 2020, originally scheduled for March 8, postponed to a later date
- Miss Universe Iceland 2020, originally scheduled for May 29, postponed to August 21
- Miss Universe Malaysia 2020, originally scheduled for April 16, postponed to July 2020 on a later date
- Miss Universe Malta 2020, originally scheduled for July 17, postponed to August 28
- Miss Universe Philippines 2020, originally scheduled for May 3, postponed twice, from June 14 to October 25
- Miss USA 2021 state pageants
- *Miss Maryland USA 2021, originally scheduled for November 7–8, 2020, postponed to April 17–18, 2021
- *Miss Texas USA 2021, originally scheduled for September 4–6, 2020, postponed to January 8–10, 2021
- *Miss Utah USA 2021, originally scheduled for January 15–16, 2021, postponed to March 26–27, 2021
Conventions, conferences, and trade shows
- 2020 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Spring Meeting & 16th Global Congress on Process Safety
- Expo 2020, originally scheduled on 20 October 2020 – 10 April 2021, postponed to 1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022
- The IJCAI 2020 conference was postponed from July 2020 to January 2021.
- India Fashion Week, originally scheduled on 11 March in New Delhi, now postponed
- London 2020 International Stamp Exhibition originally taking place in May 2020, is postponed to February 2022.
- Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, postponed to October 3–4, 2020
- Milan's Men Fashion Week, scheduled for June 19–23, postponed to September 19–23, 2020, concurrently with Women Fashion Week
- Minecraft Festival, originally scheduled for September 25–27, 2020, now postponed to late 2021
- 2020 New York Auto Show, originally scheduled for April 10–19, now postponed to August 28–September 6, 2020
- TED 2020
- The Science of Consciousness, originally scheduled April 12–18, 2020, now postponed to December 12–19, 2020
- SMASH!, originally scheduled July 18–19, 2020, now postponed to an undisclosed date
- Sustainable Energy for All in Kigali, Uganda, originally scheduled May 26–28, 2020, now postponed to February 16–18, 2021
- 2020 Tehran International Book Fair
- Venice Biennale of Architecture, originally scheduled to run from 23 May until 29 November, opening now postponed 29 August
- Wikimania 2020, postponed until 2021
- White House Correspondents' Dinner, originally scheduled April 25, 2020, now postponed to an undisclosed date
- 2020 World Esperanto Congress in Montreal, originally scheduled August 1–8, rescheduled for the summer of 2022
- Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2020, originally scheduled for 22–27 June in Kigali, Rwanda, postponed until at least 2021.
- Comiket 99, originally scheduled for 28–31 December 2020, postponed to Golden Week 2021. A virtual event will be held during its originally planned dates instead.
Gaming and competitive programming events
- 2020 FIRST Robotics Competition
- 2020 League of Legends Pro League
- 2020 League of Legends Korea Championships
- 2020 League of Legends Championship series
- 2020 League of Legends European Championship
- Pokémon Go Safari Zone in St. Louis, Liverpool, and Philadelphia
- Rocket League Championship Series Season 9 LAN Finals in Dallas
- 2020 Call of Duty League
- The ICPC 2020 World Finals, originally scheduled to take place in Moscow on June 21–26, have been postponed to a later date
- 2020 Play! Pokémon Championship Series
Military events
- Milan 2020, originally scheduled for 18–28 March 2020
- Anzac Day services in New Zealand, scheduled for 25 April, will be cancelled and the red poppy collection postponed due to the health risk. This is the first time since 1916 that Anzac Day services have not been held.
- Events on the 75th Diamond Jubilee of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War
- *2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade in Moscow, originally scheduled for 9 May, postponed to 24 June
- *Shushi Liberation Day and Victory Day ceremonies
- *Victory Day parade in the Donetsk People's Republic
- *Victory Day parade in the Lugansk People's Republic
- *Victory Day parade in Tiraspol, capital of Transnistria
- Võidupüha parade and festivities
Music and arts events
- Asunciónico
- Beale Street Music Festival & the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest
- Beverly Hills Film Festival
- Billboard LatinFest+
- Bonnaroo Music Festival
- Broadway plays
- Buku Music + Art Project Festival
- Canada Reads
- Cannes Film Festival
- Cape Town International Jazz Festival
- Cirque du Soleil
- Defqon.1 Festival
- Download Festival Japan
- Download Festival UK
- Eurovision Young Musicians 2020
- The Fest for Beatles Fans
- Glastonbury Festival
- Guelaguetza
- Lollapalooza Argentina, Brazil, and Chile
- Long Island International Film Expo
- Movement Electronic Music Festival
- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
- Prague International Film Festival
- Merrie Monarch Festival
- Pal Norte
- RiverRun International Film Festival
- Roskilde Festival
- Stony Brook Film Festival
- Summerfest
- TCM Classic Film Festival
- Towersey Folk Festival
- Treefort Music Fest
- Tribeca Film Festival
- Ultra Music Festival
- Fun Radio Ibiza Experience
Political events
- 36th ASEAN Summit and related summits, originally scheduled for April 8–9; postponed to end of June
- Basque and Galician elections, both scheduled for April 5
- 2020 Bolivian general election, originally scheduled for May 3, postponed to September 6
- 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election
- 2020 Democratic National Convention, originally scheduled for July 13–16; postponed to August 17–20
- 2020 French municipal elections — Second Round
- 2020 Georgia Democratic Primary, originally scheduled for March 24; postponed to May 19
- 2020 Green Party of British Columbia leadership election
- 2020 Indian Rajya Sabha elections
- 2020 Indiana Democratic primary, originally scheduled for May 5; postponed to June 2
- 2020 Italian constitutional referendum, originally planned on 29 March, but postponed to an unspecified date
- 2020 Kentucky Democratic primary, originally scheduled for May 19; postponed to June 23
- 2020 Kiribati parliamentary election, originally scheduled for April 7
- 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election
- 2020 Louisiana Democratic primary, originally scheduled for April 4; postponed to June 20
- 2020 Maryland Democratic primary, originally scheduled for April 28; postponed to June 2
- 2020 New Jersey Democratic primary, originally scheduled for June 2; postponed to July 7 and will be primarily be a vote-by-mail election
- 2020 New York Democratic primary, originally scheduled for April 28; postponed to June 23
- 2020 Northern Cypriot presidential election, scheduled for April 26; postponed to October 11
- 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election, scheduled for April 12
- 2020 Ohio Democratic primary, originally scheduled for March 17; postponed to June 2
- 2020 Parti Québécois leadership election
- 2020 Puerto Rico Democratic primary, originally scheduled for March 29, rescheduled for April 26
- 2020 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election
- 2020 Russian constitutional referendum
- 2020 Serbian parliamentary election, originally scheduled for April 26
- 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, originally scheduled for April 25
- 2020 Syrian parliamentary election, originally scheduled for April 13; postponed to May 20
- 2020 United Kingdom local elections, including the 2020 London mayoral election, postponed to 2021
- 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference, originally scheduled for November 9–12, postponed to 2021 on a possible earliest date
- Village elections in New York, originally scheduled for March
Religious events
- Passion Play of Iztapalapa in Mexico City, Mexico, an event that draws up to four million spectators; will be moved to an undisclosed location indoors and televised on April 10
- World Youth Day 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal, postponed to 2023
Sporting events
Other events
- The 2020 International Mathematical Olympiad in Saint Petersburg, Russia is postponed from July to September 2020.
- Sanja traditional festival in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
- 2020 Naniwa Yodo River Firework event in Osaka, Japan
- European Scout Jamboree 2020 in Gdańsk, Poland, originally scheduled to be held July 27 to August 6, 2020, postponed to 2 to 13 August 2021
- The launch of Unicode 14.0, originally having been scheduled for March 2021, was delayed by 6 months to September 2021.
- The 2020 Race for Life was due to take place in Summer 2020, but was supposed to be delayed until the autumn. It is now being rescheduled for summer 2021.
Events modified
Award ceremonies
- Canadian Screen Awards in-person ceremony cancelled and was changed into virtual winner reveal.
- Juno Awards in-person ceremony cancelled on March 12, 2020 was changed into virtual ceremony.
- The Primetime Emmy Awards in-person ceremony cancelled and changed to be held virtually.
- The 12th Annual Shorty Awards in-person ceremony cancelled, but it was held virtually.
Conventions, conferences, and trade shows
- Apple Worldwide Developers Conference will be conducted online only.
- The ASPLOS 2020 conference was changed to an online conference.
- Comic-Con@Home 2020 replaced the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con and was held online July 22–26.
- Consumer Electronics Show 2021 will be an full-digital event.
- Dragon Con 2020 will be a virtual event instead of in person in September.
- Game Developers Conference converted into free streamed event during scheduled days and a new postponed event, GDC Summer.
- GrafanaCon 2020 changed to a two-day online live streaming event instead of conference in Amsterdam.
- The ICALP and LICS 2020 conferences will be held online
- The ICLR 2020 conference was changed to an online event.
- The ICML 2020 conference was changed to an online conference.
- The International Conference on Database Theory 2020 was changed to an online conference.
- The 32nd annual KansasFest convention for Apple II users will be held online July 24–25.
- Microsoft Build developer event will be conducted online only.
- LibrePlanet 2020 was converted to a virtual conference five days prior to the event.
- The SIGMOD/PODS 2020 conference was changed to an online conference.
- The World Meteorological Organization's 2020 RA IV Hurricane Committee was abbreviated and held virtually.
Gaming events
- 2020 Overwatch League, all in-person events cancelled, but matches to continue online with scheduling changes and no crowds
- 2020 League of Legends championship Series
Music and arts events
- Burning Man will be held virtually.
- Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2020: There was no live audience for the final on 7 March 2020.
Political events
- 2020 U.S. Democratic Party presidential debate #11 : The Democratic National Committee initially announced that the debate would be held with no studio audience or third-party press at its originally-planned venue in Phoenix, Arizona. To reduce unnecessary travel, the DNC later announced that the debate would be relocated to the Washington, D.C. bureau of its host broadcaster CNN instead.
Sporting events
Other events
- April General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints originated from a small auditorium on Temple Square. The music for each session had been prerecorded, and attendance at each session was restricted to the First Presidency and those speaking at or praying during that session.
- The Chelsea Flower Show in London was held as a virtual display only.
- The 177th performance of the Passion Play of Iztapalapa in Mexico City, with an expected attendance close to 2 million people, was held without an open-air procession or a fair. Instead, it was performed in a closed space and with a reduced number of actors. The municipal government of Iztapalapa announced its intention to broadcast it on television and via internet for people to watch at their houses.
- The 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay started in Olympia, was held with no spectators, included 31 Greek towns and cities were to visit as scheduled, but several were cancelled on the second day in the Greek route; the handover ceremony in Athens was also held without spectators.
- The worldwide Earth Hour celebration, happened on 28 March at 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm participants time. Unlike the previous editions, it turned digital.
- Cemeteries in China agreed to bar visitors for traditional grave visits on the Qingming Festival in 2020.
- The wedding of Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was set to take place on 29 May 2020 at the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace. It was to be followed by a private reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. A spokesperson for the couple confirmed on 16 April 2020 that the wedding would be held at a later date and it was later announced the wedding would be held on 17 July 2020 on a private ceremony.
- The 55th Singapore National Day Parade featured a modified "morning" and "evening" performances taped and broadcast in the heartlands and several sites instead of the planned location at The Float @ Marina Bay. Number of performers are reduced and preview shows will also be suspended.