Mojang cancels real-world Minecraft Festival event due to coronavirus

It was only last week that Minecraft developer Mojang revealed it would be resurrecting its old MineCon live event format in September for a big real-world jamboree known as Minecraft Festival. Unfortunately, it’s now opted to cancel this year’s event as a result of the coronavirus.

Minecraft Festival – which promised interactive exhibits, competitive tournaments, and live entertainment – was due to be held from 25th-27th September at the Orange County Convention Center in Florida, and would have been the first official real-world Minecraft event since livestream replacement MineCon Earth debuted in 2017.

Tickets for the event were originally set to go on sale this evening, but, “after careful consideration and much hand-wringing”, Mojang has opted to postpone its inaugural Minecraft Festival until next year.

“In recent weeks, the COVID-19 outbreak has led many organisers to cancel or postpone gatherings and events across the world, as a preventive measure to ensure the health and safety of their guests,” the developer explained in a blog post, “The situation around Minecraft Festival, however, is a little different. September is still many months away, and we are not making any predictions about how long it will take to put the outbreak behind us. This decision is rather a result of the extensive preparations required to organise a mammoth event like this.”