This morning Minecraft Festival organizers announced that the festival will be postponed until next year. Mojang staff published on Twitter and the Minecraft website the festival is being put off due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. While the postponement is a disappointment for many of us, Minecraft Live is still on schedule.
Minecraft Festival is the new name for MINECON. The festival is a three-day event celebrating all things Minecraft. The festival includes tournaments, unique merch, panels, interactive exhibits, and inclusive gameplay. Something unique about the event is that it is very collaborative with the community. The organizers of the festival pull feedback and suggestions from the Minecraft community to decide what will happen at the event. Panelists often include Minecraft developers and popular Minecraft streamers and YouTube content creators.
After careful consideration event organizers for the festival have decided to err on the side of caution and postpone the event until next year hoping that the coronavirus outbreak will be behind us by then. This announcement joins a growing list of postponements for events, including Global Gaming Expo Asia and the release of the latest James Bond movie. As the virus continues to spread across the world many organizers are choosing to cancel or postpone major events in order to prevent further spread.
While the festival has been canceled, Mojang is still going to hold Minecraft Live on schedule. Minecraft Live is expected to have big announcements for upcoming features in the game and take a nostalgic look at how Minecraft has grown over the past decade. Everyone that attends the Minecraft Festival in 2021 will also receive an exclusive cape to be used in-game on both Java and Bedrock editions.
Despite the bad news, there is a silver lining to all of this. According to WHO statistics, a little over half of the people infected with the virus have already made a complete recovery. Of the 40,000 people still infected, 80% are mild cases and are expected to make a full recovery, while the people with critical cases are being provided with the best possible care. Out of all the total cases to have appeared, only 6% have resulted in death, mostly among the elderly. Postponements like this are meant to keep the virus from gaining any more ground.
