Animate! Raleigh postponed due to Raleigh Convention Center fire. What to know.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Animate! Raleigh postponed from Jan 9–11 to March 13–15 after convention center fire.
- Ticket holders can transfer to March 2026, Jan 2027 or claim full refunds.
- Residence Inn guests must adjust stays; Marriott and Sheraton will cancel and refund.
Another major event at Raleigh Convention Center is postponed as the center continues repairing parts of the building damaged by a Dec. 2 fire.
Animate! Raleigh, a convention hosted by GalaxyCon celebrating cartoons and animation, has been postponed to March 13-15, 2026, according to a Friday statement on the event’s Facebook page. The event was originally scheduled for Jan. 9-11, 2026.
“While we had hoped to run the event as planned on January 9-11, we were informed by the Raleigh Convention Center this week that they could not guarantee we would be able to run the event as planned, due to the timeframe for repairs and inspections,” Animate! organizers said in the statement.
For events scheduled at the Convention Center, the Raleigh Convention and Performing Acts Complex (RCPAC) is aiming for Jan. 8 to host events at the Red Hat Ampitheater mobile kitchen, Raleigh public information officer Julia Milstead told The News & Observer Saturday. RCPAC does not yet have a timeline on when the Convention Center will be ready to host events again.
What if I already bought a ticket?
Current ticket holders have three options, according to Animate! Raleigh:
- Have your tickets automatically transferred to March 2026 and attend then.
- If you’re unable to attend in March, transfer your tickets to Animate! Raleigh in January 2027.
- Get a full refund.
If you keep your tickets for either March 2026 or January 2027, you will also get free tickets to GalaxyCon’s Nightmare Weekend Raleigh, a celebration of horror and counter culture, on Oct. 10-11, 2026 — also at the Raleigh Convention Center, according to Animate! Raleigh.
What about my hotel reservation?
If you have a reservation at the Residence Inn in downtown Raleigh, you must contact the hotel directly to adjust your stay dates, according to Animate! Raleigh. The Raleigh Marriott City Center and Sheraton Raleigh Downtown will cancel all reservations on the original dates and refund all deposits.
Those who booked with the Marriott City Center and Sheraton will have access to new booking links for the new Animate! Raleigh dates 72 hours before they are released to the public, according to Animate! Raleigh.
This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Animate! Raleigh postponed due to Raleigh Convention Center fire. What to know.."
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