Concerns over the increase of Coronavirus cases are taking their toll on live events across the world and the United States. Late Friday, in something of a surprise, the City of Austin canceled the annual SXSW event scheduled to begin next week.
SXSW released the following statement:
“The City of Austin has canceled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions.
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.
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.”
Before this announcement, Amazon Studios, Netflix, WarnerMedia and Apple were just a few of the companies that pulled their employees, talent, films or events from the festival.
Again, SXSW says they are exploring ways to reschedule the 2020 event, but for the music and film festivals that may prove difficult. Where the films that were scheduled to premiere at SXSW go now could lead to increasing competition at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
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Other industry events to keep an eye on include CinemaCon at the end of March, the Coachella Music Festival in April and the Cannes Film Festival in May.