The world’s largest brewing industry event will not take place as scheduled in April, the Brewers Association announced today. The industry group has cancelled the Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup in light of growing concerns about COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus.
The conference and competition were scheduled for April 19 to 22 in San Antonio, Texas, along with the BrewExpo trade show. Now they have joined a rapidly growing list of events cancelled or postponed worldwide out of caution, in a widening public effort to slow the spread of the virus.
“Given the developments over the past 24 hours, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America and World Beer Cup,” Brewers Association President and CEO Bob Pease said in the announcement. The group said it will provide full refunds within 60 days for registration, booth fees, and sponsorship payments, as well as for entry fees to the World Beer Cup.