Olivia PowellInsomnia, a gaming festival and expo, announced today that it’s 66th edition of the event will be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The gaming festival was set to go ahead from 10-13 April at the NEC, Birmingham. The next iteration of the event, Insomnia67, will take place in August 2020.
Insomnia aims to ‘bring gamers together’ who like to play solitaire for money by using feedback from those in the gaming community to fuel the content at the show.
The event routinely attracts between 45,000-50,000 attendees per show, and includes the BYOC gaming network, where attendees can game together on the UK’s biggest LAN network and take part in esports tournaments, an expo where visitors can learn about the latest games and gaming tech, and the ‘world famous’ Insomnia pub quiz which regularly sells out.
Insomnia said on a statement on its website: “It’s with incredible disappointment and reluctance that we have to update you that Insomnia66 this April 10th-13th at the NEC, is cancelled due to COVID-19. We appreciate this will come as a major disappointment, but we want to ensure our priority is the welfare of our guests, exhibitors, staff, volunteers and suppliers; as well as producing a show of the high standard you have come to expect and enjoy.
“A lot of work from our very dedicated Insomnia family has gone into making this event happen and this outcome is far from what we envisaged for Insomnia66. To make the best of this difficult situation, we will be dedicating time to working with our partners and exhibitors to make our summer show better than ever.
“In the interim, your feedback on ideas to keep our community spirit alive, is very greatly appreciated. Insomnia will return with Insomnia67 from 28-31 August at the NEC, Birmingham.”