Effects of Covid-19 on Pen Events 2020

This page is to help a wider perspective of the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the greater, international pen show community.

While these date changes are also noted on individual pen show pages, this page is to also show them all at a glance.

Changes

North American Events

• Arkansas Pen Show 2020 - OPEN- This pen show remained open and on-schedule for March 13-15, after local state agencies reported no confirmed cases in the state during the week leading to the event. Extra hand-washing was encouraged for participants through the weekend, with signs to remind vendors and attendees.

• Atlanta Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED - The 2020 event was officially cancelled on the week of March 16, announced on Twitter and posted elsewhere. It would have been the event's 25th show, and held on April 3-5.

• Chicago Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED
  The Chicago 2020 event has been postponed to later dates in response to changing situations in the US. Originally the show dates were moved from April 30-May 3 to the new date of June 11-14. However, as confirmed cases kept increasing in the US, the show runners moved the dates to September 10-13 for safety of vendors and attendees..
  On July 1, the showrunners for the Chicago pen show joined a tandem announcement with the San Francisco and Dallas pen shows that their events would be cancelled this year.

• Montreal Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED / POSTPONED - tentative: May 2021
  The Scriven Montreal event would have been the first pen show. Although originally slated for 2019 and postponed until May 2020. In the midst of the pandemic, the event was cancelled with a tentative postponement for August 2020. As the spring went on, the event was postponed until May 2021.

• St. Louis Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED
  The St. Louis event was originally slated to be held in June 26-28, but the board of directors cancelled the 2020 event for the safety of vendors and attendees. The next show is slated for June 24-27, 2021.

• Miami Pen Show 2020 CANCELLED
  The Miami event was to be held July 10-12, but due to higher Covid cases in the US, an announcement was made on May 18 that the 2020 show would be cancelled.

• Washington D.C. Collectible Fountain Pen Supershow 2020 CANCELLED
  In the week of May 25, the show runners for the DC supershow announced that the event scheduled for July 30-Aug 2 was cancelled due to safety concerns for vendors and attendees.

• Triangle Pen Show 2020 - POSTPONED - Aug 13-16
  The Triangle/Raleigh 2020 show was officially cancelled on the week of April 29, as announced on their Facebook page. It would have been held June 4-7. The announcement and website mentions a possible rescheduled date of August 8-13 after working with the hotel.. On June 3, the show runners announced they had signed a contract with the hotel to hold the event August 13-16 this year.

• San Francisco 2020 - CANCELLED
  On July 1, the showrunners for the show announced that they would not hold the 2020 pen show. They were also joined in a tandem announcement on FP Geeks forum with the Dallas and Chicago pen shows for cancellations..

• Commonwealth Pen Show 2020 - PENDING - Sept. 13
  As of May 25, the show runners for the Commonwealth event have not announced a postponement or cancellation. Instead, they are awaiting for August 1 to post an announcement, one way or another. The one-day show is slated for September 13.

• Dallas Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED
  On July 1, the show runners for the Dallas pen show made a tandem announcement on FP Geeks to cancel the Dallas pen show for the year.

• Colorado Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Oct. 9-11
  As of May 27, there has been no announcement or change to the official website concerning the 2020 event in October.

• Ohio Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Oct. 29-Nov. 1
  As of May 27, there has been no announcement or change to the official website concerning the 2020 event in October/November.

• Scriptus Toronto 2020 CANCELLED - Nov. 1
  After consulting with the venue, volunteers, and seeing the progression of the pandemic, the show runners have cancelled the Scriptus event for 2020. The 2021 event is scheduled for October 31, 2021.

• Detroit Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Nov. 13-15
  As of May 27, there has been no announcement or change to the official website concerning the 2020 event in November.

2021 Outlooks

• Philly Pen Show 2021

• Los Angeles International Pen Show

• Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show

European Events

• London Writing Equipment Show (Spring) 2020 OPEN -
  The pen show went as scheduled on March 8. There was note of fewer vendors due to concerns for the virus, but still a good showing of attendees.

• The Capital Pen Show 2020- POSTPONED - June 2021
  In August 2019, a new pen show for London was announced for June 2020. Due to the spread of coronavirus, in March 2020 the showrunners announced they were rescheduling the event for June 2021.

• Newcastle Pen Show 2020 - UNCHANGED - Sept. 6
  As of May 27, there has not been an announcement made to postpone or cancel the Newcastle 2020 event in September.

• Belgian Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Sept. 27
  As of May 27, there has not been an announcement made to postpone or cancel the Belgian 2020 event in September.

• Hamburg Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Oct. 3
  As of May 27, there has not been an announcement made to postpone or cancel the Hamburg 2020 event in October.

• London Writing Equipment Show (Autumn) 2020 - UNCHANGED - Oct. 4
  As of May 27, there has not been an announcement made to postpone or cancel the LWES Autumn 2020 event in October.

• Dutch Pen Show 2020 - CANCELLED -
  On March 24, the show runners for the Dutch event announced that they would be rescheduling to October 18th due to the regional restrictions on crowds until at least June 1. On July 22, the show runners announced that the now postponed event would be cancelled for 2020 entirely. An announcement was made on Instagram that with the uncertainty of Covid-19 and possible changes from the local government in response, the show runners opted to cancel instead, with an intent to have the next event in June 2021.

• Yorkshire Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - Nov. 22
  As of May 27, there has not been an announcement made to postpone or cancel the Yorkshire 2020 event in November.

East-Asian Events

• Singapore Pen Show

• Tokyo International Pen Show

Other Events

• Sydney Pen Show 2020 PENDING - August?
  As of May 27, the show runners for the Sydney event have not announced a postponement or cancellation. The 2019 event was held on August 25.

• Melbourne Pen Show 2020 UNCHANGED - November 22
  As of May 27, the show runners for the Melbourne event have not announced a postponement or cancellation. The bio on the official Instagram currently has November 22, 2020 as the event date.

• Pelikan Hubs CANCELLED
  The global Pelikan Hubs takes place in dozens of cities and regions, generally in a coordinated day in September. Registration and signup process usually begins in July to coordinate exact cities and Hubmasters. The week of May 25, Pelikan announced the cancellation of the Hubs for 2020.

Virtual and Alternative Meetups

With the use of webcall and virtual meeting technology, many local/regional pen clubs have started hosting virtual meetups to help fill the social gap left by pen shows being closed. Although these won't be updated consistently to show the upcoming dates/times for some, here are some clubs' social media accounts to follow along for (some clubs are closed groups/members only):

• St. Louis Area Pens Meet & Eats: St. Louis local group, but welcomes visitors.