NEW ORLEANS — Anyone familiar with board games knows that you win some and you lose some — and New Orleans tourism boosters are learning that the hard way this week.
In a surprise reversal of fortune, the Toy Association has decided it won’t bring its annual Toy Fair — and the event’s roughly 20,000 annual attendees — to New Orleans for three years starting in 2026 as announced two weeks ago.
The nonprofit group planned to move the massive toy industry gathering away from New York City for the first time since the event began in 1916. The goal was to save money and find a better time of year for the meeting.
But in an Oct. 13 letter to members, Toy Association Chairman Aaron Muderick said an immediate and strong backlash from Toy Fair attendees inspired the group to crawfish away from the land of crawfish.
“The announcement of that change was met with strong feelings of tradition and enduring memories of toy business conducted in New York,” he wrote. “We were swiftly reminded of our industry’s passionate bond to a place that no amount of research, conversation and learning had sufficiently surfaced.”
New Orleans & Co., which was thrilled about snagging the big event, will look for another group to fill the spot on the convention calendar.
“This unfortunate situation speaks to the complex nature of association meetings for both destination marketing organizations and their clients,” said Walt Leger III, president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, in a statement. “We appreciate the Toy Fair’s word that their difficult decision was not a reflection of the organization’s nor their member’s feelings about New Orleans, one of the few destinations in the country able to host large and complex shows with excellence. The CEO and his team also were extremely complimentary of the professionals at New Orleans & Company and the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
We look forward to continuing a good partnership with the Toy Association and hope to be able to host some of their other events in New Orleans in the future.”
