SXSW Cancelled Amid Coronavirus Fear

Austin’s South by Southwest festival has joined the growing list of global events impacted by the spread of coronavirus. During a press conference Friday afternoon, Austin Mayor Steve Adler announced that the 10-day festival set for March 13-22—which features film, music, and tech-focused interactive programming—was cancelled. “I’ve gone ahead and declared a local disaster in the city, and associated with that I have issued an order that cancels South by Southwest this year,” Adler told reporters. “This is a medical and data-driven decision,” Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt added before giving the mic over to Mark Escott, interim medical director and health authority for Austin Public Health, who assured the gathered press that there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Travis County and that “now is not the time to panic.”

The ramifications of cancelling this festival in Austin are hard to grasp from outside the city. Given the party atmosphere and duration of the event, countless local businesses depend on the influx of cash from out of town to sustain them year-round. But by Friday the festival was already a shell of itself. Fear of coronavirus had caused high-profile companies, sponsors, celebrities, and events to cancel one after the next. Starz, Lionsgate, Netflix, Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Intel, Mashable, TikTok, Amazon, Vevo, WarnerMedia, Warner Music Group, SAP, and China Gathering had reportedly all pulled out. A petition with over 55,000 signatures was circulating online calling for the festival to cancel. Before the official announcement on Friday, an individual with close knowledge of the Austin economy told Vanity Fair, “Southby isn’t cancelled but it’s effectively cancelled because the people who spend the money aren’t coming. So much of their currency is prestige of the celebrity.”

The SXSW press team put out a statement in reaction to the news:

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.