The City of Austin cancels SXSW March events
The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU due to concerns of the coronavirus. The 34 year old music and arts festival was still planning to take place next week — despite artists and vendors pulling out at a rapid pace — until about 5 pm ET on Friday (March 6th).
“We are devastated to share this news with you. ‘The show must go on’ is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation,” festival promoters share.
“As recently as Wednesday, Austin Public Health stated that ‘there’s no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer.’ However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin’s decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites.
“We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU. For our registrants, clients, and participants we will be in touch as soon as possible and will publish an FAQ.
“We understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilize SXSW to accelerate their careers; for the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses – venues, theatres, vendors, production companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that SXSW attracts.
“We will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it’s true that our March 2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose – helping creative people achieve their goals.”
This week, Ozzy Osbourne had c at the premiere of A&E’s Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, a two hour documentary exploring the life and times of the goth rocker slated to air on the network later this summer.
This is the second music festival canceled due to concerns of the coronavirus. The Ultra Music Festival, Miami’s annual electronica and dance festival, has been postponed by the City of Maimi issuing a state of emergency.
Sons of Apollo canceled their upcoming tour of Europe, Russia and Ukraine earlier this week with Green Day, BTS, Slipknot and Whitesnake also postponing shows in Asia. Old Dominion has canceled its appearance at the C2C Country to Country Music Festival in Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, London and Glasgow next week due to the global epidemic.
Nearly 100,000 cases have been reported worldwide since late last year, causing more than 3,000 deaths with 14 of them in the United States. Two hundred cases have been reported in the States with California declaring a state of emergency.