Is there an appetite for Glee 2020?
It’s 15 weeks till the start of Glee. Invoices have arrived with exhibitors for final payments to participate in the exhibition. But will the show be going ahead?
The fact that Glee is 14 weeks away and yet the organisers have remained all but silent on the matter of whether it will run or not is bordering on irresponsible.
I appreciate that we currently live in a time where predicting the course of the Covid-19 pandemic is nigh on impossible, however in light of the fact that other exhibitions scheduled for September have cancelled it seems only right that Glee should follow suit.
There is no doubt that the cancellation of such a long running show would be an incredible shame, and for some Glee would still be needed, however for most the show comes at a time of too much uncertainty. I would not wish to send my team to the show and would be incredibly concerned for their safety at this time. I am sure that other suppliers feel the same, with retailers sure to echo these feelings and well as not necessarily feeling the need to place orders in the same way they normally would during September. I highly doubt international visitors would attend, air bridge or not, so we’d be left with a show that, at best, offers the bare bones that our industry has to offer.
I would be intrigued to see what these safety measures mentioned are, though I am under no illusions that they would efficiently counter the general health and safety concerns that comes from a worldwide pandemic.
These are unprecedented times and as such an exhibition of Glee’s scale is not a viable option. We will miss Glee and remain hopeful that its presence in 2021 will be just as important as it always is. But for 2020 it must not go ahead, and the organisers need to accept this truth. Their ongoing silence is problematic and every day that passes this silence is speaking volumes about Glee’s role as show organisers. I urge them to think carefully about their next steps.