Organizers of the Philippine Komiks Convention or Komikon announced that it would temporarily take a break in 2022 due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 pandemic.
The Komikon Group made the announcement on Saturday and said that the hiatus would cover a break from conducting online events.
“Komikon has been running for 16 years. We had our last actual event in November 2019 and online events since 2020,” it began on a statement posted on its Facebook page.
“This COVID-19 pandemic truly changed our way of living. Despite the lowering cases and restrictions, we are still uncertain whether mass gatherings, like conventions, will be allowed,” the organizers added.
As of now, Metro Manila and other provinces are under Alert Level 2 of the COVID-19 Alert Level System.
Based on the pandemic task force’s guidelines, establishments must operate at a maximum of 50% indoor capacity for fully vaccinated individuals and a maximum of 70% for outdoor settings.
Venues for conferences and exhibitions are allowed to operate, provided that it is approved by the local government unit where the activity would take place. Workers on the site must also be fully vaccinated and that the minimum public health standards should be strictly maintained.
Despite the announcement, the group encouraged local artists and writers to continue creating comics.
“In light of this, the Komikon Group has decided to take a hiatus in 2022. This includes conducting online events. As we take a break, we encourage komiks creators to continue making komiks,” the organizers said in their statement.
The Komikon Group added that they are looking forward “to the day that we can all see each other again, face to face.”
“Thank you all for the support,” the group said.
Komikon organizes events, called conventions, every year where local comic book artists, writers and groups come together to present their works and craft to the public, especially to aspiring comic book creators.
The yearly convention brings together different art groups and various generations of comic and graphic artists to exchange ideas and broaden the scope of comics, as well as raise awareness on the local comics industry.
