U.S.

Scripps Spelling Bee Will Return Virtually

The in-person competition is limited to a dozen finalists who will gather on an ESPN campus at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Scripps Spelling Bee Will Return Virtually
Randy Hoeft / The Yuma Sun / AP

Scripps, the parent company of Newsy, has announced the National Spelling Bee will return this year with a mostly virtual format.

The in-person competition is limited to a dozen finalists who will gather on an ESPN campus at Walt Disney World in Florida. 

Last year the spelling bee was canceled for the first time since WWII. 

The competition is usually compressed into a week, called Bee Week, that brings hundreds of people to one location in Washington.

This year, the competition will be stretched out over several weeks. The preliminary rounds will be held in mid-June, the semifinals on June 27, and the ESPN-televised finals will be on July 8.

Additional reporting by Ben Nuckols of The Associated Press.