The 2020 SXSW has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns by the City of Austin.
The festival was scheduled to take place from 13 March till 22 March 2020 at Austin, Texas. This will be the first time in 34 years the festival get to cancel the annual event.
Local artists; Samthing Soweto, Moonchild Sanelly, Amanda Black, Nadia Nakai, BLK JKS and Benny Afroe were scheduled to perform at the festival.
Organizers of the festival say they’re devastated by the news following a word from Austin Public Health that states “there’s no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer.”
During the past weeks, there were growing concerns about whether it was all safe for the show to go ahead. Since then big tech companies such as Apple, Netflix, LinkedIn, and Facebook – who were part of the showcase at the festival, withdrew from taking part.
Many international festivals, events, and artists have been canceling their shows due to coronavirus outbreak. Shows such as Ultra and Tomorrowland have recently canceled shows in France, Dubai and Miami.
Below is a full statement from SXSW organizers:
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.
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.
