On the heels of Ultra Music Festival postponing the festival until next year due to the coronavirus fear, thereby effectively canceling it, comes another festival announcement.

South by Southwest, one of Austin’s biggest festivals of the year, has been canceled. The festival, which includes not only music but film, interactive media, and more, was supposed to take place on March 13-22, 2020.

COVID-19, which has come to be known as the coronavirus, has touched down in the United States. Texas has had 17 cases, 11 of which were on a San Antonio military base.

SXSW attracts more than 400,000 attendees from all around the world for the 10-day event. Major sponsors and vendors had begun pulling out of the event last week, including Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and Apple. A petition had gone around to cancel the event as well, which resulted in 50,000 signatures. SXSW was planning on continuing, however, until the City of Austin made the alternative decision.

In a statement released on the afternoon of March 6, SXSW stated

The City of Austin has cancelled 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.

According to the site, “SXSW does not issue refunds under any circumstances,” nor does it offer credit for future festivals. As this is unprecedented, we are not sure if that policy may make an exception. The festival is exploring options to reschedule the event and provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as they can for all of the 2020 participants.

See the official announcement below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.