Brickworld Chicago 2020 has been canceled

April 27, 2020

Governor Pritzker announced on April 23, 2020 that he would be extending the stay-at-home order in Illinois until May 30th. With this news, we have decided that Brickworld will be unable to take place this June. At this time, Brickworld is legally obligated to our contract with the venue. Since Illinois law allows executive orders from the governor to be in effect for a limit of 30 days, we will have to wait until June 1st for Governor Pritzker to make a determination on large gatherings for the month the Chicago Convention & Expo is scheduled. We had been cautiously optimistic that widespread testing and better treatments would allow the show to continue as scheduled in June. With the show dates fast approaching and the extension of the state’s stay-at-home order, we no longer have any confidence in this outcome. The Renaissance is willing to allow us to reschedule the show for later this year without the announcement regarding public events in June from Governor Pritzker. However, at this point, no weekends are open for the event space yet so we are unable to reschedule, officially, at this time. With the ability to run an event this size in question throughout the Fall and Winter, we are pursuing the option of renting a smaller space at the Renaissance, setting up some LEGO exhibits, and allowing the public to connect with us virtually through Zoom and other media. 

We ran a successful virtual event in March and have planned four more for the rest of the Brickworld 2020 season. These events will take place May 16, June 27, October 31 and December 12.

Your ticket and convention registration fees will be honored at next year’s event, and you will be given access to our entire virtual show season as a token of our appreciation for your patience and an apology for the inconvenience. We hope that everyone is staying safe during these trying times.

Further explanation of Brickworld’s refund policies

Public Expo Ticket Holder

If you have purchased a $14 public expo ticket, we will not be issuing refunds at this time. Our tickets clearly state when purchased that they are non-refundable. We know these are extenuating circumstances and we apologize for the inconvenience, but please understand that we are unable to process refunds at this time, even if we were to make an exception. To be clear, Brickworld has no money. With shows being rescheduled there has been no event income. Pre-sales typically help us cover non-refundable venue deposits and all of our contracts have been signed and partially paid for all six shows for the entire season. Your current tickets will be honored at Brickworld Chicago 2021. In a further attempt to compensate you for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience, we are offering free access to all of our virtual shows in 2020. The price of public admission for the expo portion of our convention will be increasing to $15 per person in 2021. If you choose to use your tickets at one of the future Chicago events, the current price would be honored for all tickets previously purchased. For more information about our virtual shows, visit: https://brickworld.com/brickworld-virtual/ 

Registered Attendees

If you have purchased a $65 or $90 full registration for the Brickworld fan convention in Chicago, you can still request a full refund until May 15, 2020. You also have the option to apply your registration fee to Brickworld 2021. In 2021, we will be raising the cost of registration to $75 for full registration and $100 for full registration with a goody bag. If you choose to apply your current registration fee to 2021, the price you paid this year will be honored. You will also be able to attend all of our virtual events for free, including the extra fan offerings we will offer for the October Virtual Brickworld. Our current virtual show schedule is May 16th, June 27th, October 31st and December 12th. If you ordered an exclusive event set, Babbling Brook Bridge, we will be adding a shipping option to the pre-purchased items on the website. This option is available for domestic shipping only. You can also purchase the set for pickup at Brickworld 2021. If you purchased a custom badge, you can be refunded, or likewise carry that over to 2021. If you are in a LUG and want to coordinate shipping of several sets to a member of your LUG, reply to this email and we will coordinate the shipping for you. Goody bags will not be made available. Brickworld 2020 event bricks will also be given to anybody applying their registration fee to Brickworld 2021. If you are requesting a full refund, in the meantime, please understand that we currently do not have the funds to process these refunds yet. To be clear, with the season being postponed the way it is, there is no money in Brickworld right now. We may not be able to process refunds until the Fall of 2020 and possibly as late as Spring of 2021. And that is assuming this doesn’t extend to affect the Spring 2021 season. Refunds will be processed in the order they were received. Please accept our deepest apologies for the inconvenience this must be causing and know that we will do our best to care for our attendees as soon as we are able. For more information about our virtual shows, visit: https://brickworld.com/brickworld-virtual/ 

To choose a refund or a rollover log into your Brickworld account, go to MyPage > ConventionMyPage and select one of the options below your registration information.