It is with a heavy heart that we announce all in-person Overland Expo events have been postponed for 2020. The safety and health of our attendees, exhibitors, and staff are of the utmost importance to us. After months of deliberation, research and consultation with local officials, we have decided to postpone all in-person Overland Expo events until 2021.
Like you, we eagerly anticipate each Overland Expo event. The events are more than a place where overlanders congregate to share experiences, products, and wisdom; they are a way for the community to come together, connect, and celebrate our shared love of the overlanding lifestyle — and have fun, too.
We hoped that the world would look different by late summer and early fall. However, we still have not received approval to move forward with mass gatherings in the counties in which these events are based. We considered all the options to host an event that would adhere to the highest level of safety without compromising the event experience. Ultimately, we concluded we could not in good conscience host a gathering of tens of thousands of overlanders in an environment with so many unknowns, for fear it could threaten the health not just of those in the overlanding community but beyond. The only responsible choice is to refrain from hosting live events in 2020.
Our Commitment To You We are so proud that, with your support, we have been able to grow Overland Expo into the world’s premier overland and adventure travel event series. Although Overland Expo is mighty, our team is small. The event series is operated by a family-owned company with a team of just 14 passionate individuals.
To be candid, postponing our in-person events this year will be very challenging for us — both emotionally and financially. The live events are our primary focus and source of revenue. In order to keep Overland Expo alive through this pandemic, ownership will forgo salaries and our team will take significant pay cuts for the rest of this year.
In a world where we are not able to physically gather, we are committed to continuing to inspire the overland community year-round with social media, compelling editorial via the Compass, e-newsletters, and an all-digital Overland Sourcebook resource guide. We also plan to bring you two new virtual events - planned for summer and fall - to bring the community together online.
In order to make this all happen, we could use your help. If you’ve already purchased your ticket, sponsorship or booth space for 2020, we respectfully ask you to consider rolling it over into an Overland Expo event in 2021. Rollovers will help us keep our staff employed through these unprecedented times so that we can once again host Overland Expo live events next year. However, if rolling your purchase into 2021 is not financially feasible for you, we completely understand. We will refund your purchase in full, if you wish.
If you take no action before August 14th, we will automatically roll your ticket, sponsorship or booth space into the corresponding Overland Expo in 2021.
Ticketed attendees may request a refund or choose to take other actions here.
Sponsors and exhibitors may request a refund or choose to take other actions here.
Overland Expo 2021 Series West Flagstaff, Arizona May 14-16, 2021 Mountain West Loveland, Colorado August 27-29, 2021 East Arrington, Virginia October 8-10, 2021
Thank You — We’ll See You In 2021
As we continue through this strange summer, we encourage our community to explore —take your family on an adventure. Just stay safe and healthy and adventure responsibly. If you’d like to be featured in a Community Spotlight, we encourage you to Share your overland story with us or you can tag us on social @overlandexpo and #myoverlandexpo to be featured in social posts all year long.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support during this time. We look forward to better times when we can gather once again to “Get Trained, Get Outfitted and Get Inspired” at Overland Expo events in 2021.
