This morning, the organization announced that it’s been forced to cancel the 2020 edition of the festival, which was set to start on March 20th in Lille, France.
Despite having done everything they could to keep the event going, this monrning, the organization behind Series Menia Festival announced it was forced to cancel its upcoming edition.
“Every year since its inaugural event in Lille, Series Mania has attracted 80,000 festival-goers, most of whom have already booked their event tickets, and more than 3,000 professionals. Due to the recent restriction from the French government banning gatherings of more than 1,000 people, coupled with the travel restrictions for many of our international participants, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Series Mania,” said Rodolphe Belmer, president of Series Mania.
“In this delicate period, we are very touched by the ongoing support of our French and international partners, and we want to express our warm thanks to everyone.”
President of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, added: “The Hauts-de-France region has had the honor of hosting Series Mania since 2018 and is already looking forward to welcoming the Festival, Forum and Lille Dialogues in an ambitious way in 2021, as well as its further development in future years. Series Mania has our total support, as well as the people around the world during this difficult time.”
Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania added: “This year’s Series Mania was an event not to be missed with an exceptional program and amazing guest list. It is with great sadness that we have had to make this difficult decision. However, our utmost concern is for the safety and well-being of our valued clients, guests, and staff who have invested so much time these past few months.”
“I would like to thank the city of Lille, Hauts-de-France region, and European audiences for their enthusiasm and passion. I would also like to thank every creator, talent, producer, and broadcaster who have trusted us since the beginning. To our audiences, professionals, politicians, and industry leaders, we will be back stronger than ever in 2021 with a new edition that will be, from the bottom our hearts, even more ambitious and radiant.”
The news comes as the coronavirus continues to spread across Europe and three days after the French government put a ban on all gatherings of more than 1000 people, with the exception of encounters that are “useful to the nation’s life”.
Series Mania, the international festival devoted 100% to TV series, was set to take place from Marcho 20th through the 28th in Lille, France. It was going to take place along side the Series Mania Forum (25-27) and the Lille Dialogues (26), both also cancelled.
The event joins a long list of cancelled events, including Miptv in Cannes, the SXSW in Austin, Cartoons on the Bay in Pescara, Italy; Buscan Content Market in South Korea and the Malaga Festival in Spain.
