Dear Visitors, Guests and Friends of GalaCon,
we have been closely monitoring the situation concerning the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sadly, the development of the Covid-19 pandemic is still worrisome and there is little hope that GalaCon can be held without severe constraints. Most recent facts and figures suggest that some restrictive measures might continue and the development within the next few months is still unclear.
The risk of financial damage in case of a cancellation is steadily increasing the more time goes by. As a non-profit association, we can’t rely on public financial support for companies. Some expenses might not be refundable for us, so these funds would be wasted. In addition, we are aware that many of you have to book your travel or hotel soon, so the the longer we wait, the more of you could experience financial loss. Not to mention that many of you may have uneasy feelings about attending because of worries risking themself or others.
While this is completely understandable, this also reflects in an massive drop of ticket sales, which too adds up to the financial situation described above. Until now, we did not get any reliable statement from the local health authorities, which makes this situation especially hard for us. Any decision we make is at our own responsibility, also in a legal sense.
After carefully weighing up the risks, your safety and health, your interests as well as our dedication to the project, we have decided with a heavy heart that postponing this 9th GalaCon to 2021 is the best possible solution.
What about already bought tickets?
The ticket sale is now closed until further notice and will reopen when the date for 2021 is announced.
All tickets remain valid for 2021. All ticket holders will be contacted via e-mail with further instructions. For now, Please await our e-mail and refrain from contacting us regarding ticket issues or placing requests via our online forms to avoid additional overstrain.
A refund is also possible, but we kindly ask you to reconsider this step even if asking for a refund is fully justified and understandable in this situation.
Some costs have already been incurred. Also periodical obligations like tax payments must be met. As a non-profit association, we cannot rely on huge reserves or loans. All costs must be covered by the actual ticket revenue.We will have to ask business partners for a refund first and also rely on the personal support of some board members to make a larger number of refunds payable.
A large number of refunds will lead to a high financial damage and late payments due to cash flow issues. Meanwhile, a large number of visitors who keep their tickets will give us more time to compensate inevitable losses and regain funds to hold GalaCon in 2021 without any financial cutbacks.
Any visitor who keeps their ticket for 2021 makes a major contribution to GalaCon and helps our convention through these difficult times. We will of course give our best to find a way to duly reward those who support GalaCon by keeping their tickets for 2021!
What about volunteer, vendor and panel applications?
If you have already been accepted, your acceptance will remain valid until 2021. Even if no decision has been made yet, we will keep all applications for 2021 and postpone the selection procedure. You will be notified as soon as possible when the decision will be made.
Can anything else be done to help GalaCon?
We are working on a fundraising campaign as well as a merchandise sale. These should help collect funds to prevent any financial cutbacks for 2021 and to compensate for unavoidable expenses.
More information will be announced soon.
What about guests?
Already announced guests will still be part of the 9th GalaCon – if they have time of course. We have contacted all guests of honor and community guests to make sure they will still appear and do our best to replace anyone who has to miss out.
Are refunds for hotel and travel costs possible?
Unfortunately, we cannot cover these costs as they will simply overstrain our budget. This kind of compensation is also excluded in § 6 (8) of our terms and conditions.
We wish you the very best in these challenging times.
Stay safe, healthy and see you at GalaCon next year!
The GalaCon Team
If you have further questions, please feel free to send an e-mail to support@pony-events.eu or use the contact form. Please keep in mind that we may not be able to respond immediately due to the high number of inquiries and the general organizational effort.
