WTHRA Postpones ToyFest West 2021 Amid COVID-19 Concerns

Source: ToyFest West

On the heels of The Toy Association’s announcement that Toy Fair New York will return in May, the Western Toy & Hobby Representatives Association (WTHRA) has postponed the 2021 edition of ToyFest West. New dates have not yet been announced. The 60th-anniversary trade show was slated to take place at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas from March 1-3.

“As the coronavirus has proven to be resilient and unpredictable … we are now shifting our focus to hosting the show once conditions improve significantly enough to support a safe environment for all of our valued attendees,” says WTHRA President Lawrence Nissen.

Founded in 1961, ToyFest West is the second-largest trade show of its kind in the U.S. and welcomes attendees from 47 states in addition to Canada and the UK. This year’s show took place in March, just prior to the rollout of stay-at-home orders across the U.S. Additional shows are already dated for Feb. 28 to March 2, 2022, and Feb. 27 to March 1, 2023.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.