Bummer of the Day: Bouchercon 2020 cancelled

So some not so good news today: Bouchercon 2020 in Sacramento has been cancelled, another casualty of the COVID-19 virus. I was surprised by the timing because it wasn't taking place until mid-October. I was hoping that things would have started getting back to normal in plenty of time for the conference.

The official announcement from their site:

Dear Bouchercon 2020 Community:

In the 50 years since the first Bouchercon, our community of mystery fans and authors have gathered together annually for several days to celebrate all that we love.

We’ve faced many changes and challenges, but never have we faced something like the global coronavirus pandemic, which is causing widespread disruption to every aspect of our lives.

We’re terribly sad to tell you this, but out of an abundance of caution and concern for the health and safety of our community, we are canceling Bouchercon 2020.

We have no way of knowing what the balance of this year holds for groups of people gathering, nor can we tell what the state of travel will be.

While we are canceling the actual Bouchercon convention, we are working to develop a different format for some of the Bouchercon events and activities such as the Anthony Awards, the short story anthology and the General Membership meeting. Nominations will continue to be open until June 5 for the Anthony Awards. As we work to develop other ways to present a traditional Bouchercon experience, we’ll keep in touch with you.

For those of you who had registered or provided sponsorships, we will be issuing full refunds. And for those with hotel reservations, we will be working with the hotels to cancel all reservations, although they, too, are closed now.

Although the members of the Local Organizing Committee who have worked on this for the last five years are saddened, we know this is the right step to take to keep all safe. And we know that there will be future Bouchercons where we can gather again to celebrate the world of mystery.

As with Left Coast Crime San Diego, I do feel bad for the organizers, who have been working on this event for years.

The next Bouchercon is August 26-29, 2021 in New Orleans. The Brother and I are looking forward to spending some quality time there. Hopefully the world will have returned to what passes for normal by then.