Seattle's largest convention since start of pandemic begins Friday
The four-day PAX West festival begins Friday in Seattle as the number of Covid-19 cases continued to surge in King County due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
The celebration of gaming and gaming culture is the largest gathering at the Washington State Convention Center since near the start of the pandemic 18 months ago, said Kauilani Robinson, director of public relations at Visit Seattle. The forecasted economic impact of this year's PAX West is $15.9 million.
One hotel sales director, Nate Moore of the Westin, expects the hotel will be busy this Labor Day weekend but due more to guests coming from around the region for one last summer outing than people coming for PAX. He anticipates the Westin will be up to 90% occupied this weekend.
A PAX West spokesperson said in an email there will be "tens of thousands of attendees" this weekend.
They noted that Penny Arcade, the company that founded PAX, is based in Redmond. "The health and safety of our attendees and local community, in which many of us show organizers live, are of paramount importance. This is why we are instituting the strongest safety protocols out of any of the large events in the Puget Sound area this Labor Day weekend."
Everyone entering PAX West must wear an approved face coving and provide proof they're either fully vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid-19. For a lab test, the timestamp must be no more than 72 hours prior to submission at the show's verification station, and for a rapid antigen test, the time stamp must be no more than six hours before submission.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/09/02/seattle-big-convention-pandemic.html