By Rebecca Elliott and Elizabeth Findell
Austin, Texas -- The South by Southwest festival has been
canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus, the city's mayor
said Friday, the latest major event to be called off due to fears
of the fast-spreading disease.
"After consultation with the city manager, I've gone ahead and
declared a local disaster in the city," Austin Mayor Steve Adler
said in a news conference, adding that the order effectively
cancels South by Southwest for this year.
City leaders and health officials had said earlier this week
that the tech, film and music festival would go on as planned
starting March 13. But a wave of companies including Facebook Inc.,
Apple Inc. Netflix Inc. and Twitter Inc. said their employees
wouldn't attend, and more than 50,000 signed a petition urging that
it be called off, putting pressure on organizers and public
officials to make a decision.
Since its inception as a future-minded music festival in 1987,
South by Southwest has grown to include film and technology,
becoming an influential gathering for discussing and promoting new
movies, artists, apps and other products -- as well as a popular
extended party. It now brings hundreds of thousands of people from
around the world to Austin each spring, including many celebrities,
politicians and CEOs.
Organizers, who didn't attend the news conference Friday,
released a statement expressing disappointment that the festival
had been cancelled, noting that it was the city's decision. They
added that they were exploring the option of rescheduling the
event.
"We are devastated to share this news with you," the festival
said in a statement. '"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."
A spokeswoman declined to answer whether they had insurance
covering the cancellation.
Local officials called the decision a data-driven one, based on
health concerns that some of the festival's attendees would be
coming from regions where the virus had spread and would be in
close proximity with tens of thousands of others. As of Friday,
Texas had confirmed six cases of coronavirus, all of them in the
Houston area.
Dr. Mark Escott, the interim health authority for Austin,
likened the situation to taking precautions when a hurricane forms
in the Gulf of Mexico. "It is not clear yet how strong or impactful
the storm will be, but now is the time to prepare," he said.
Among the businesses that flowered with help from the festival
is Twitter, which gained buzz when many people at South by
Southwest in 2007 began using the microblogging platform. Artists
whose careers received a boost from performances at the event
include the White Stripes and Katy Perry.
This year's show was initially scheduled to include appearances
by Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, and the Beastie Boys, who
were set to discuss "Beastie Boys Story," a documentary on the rap
group by Spike Jonze, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, who was set to
promote his documentary "The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne." All of
them canceled earlier this week due to the virus.
World-wide, hundreds of conferences and trade shows are being
canceled or postponed as the novel coronavirus leads companies to
cut back on nonessential travel and government officials impose
tougher measures restricting large gatherings, adding up to tens of
millions of lost visits and revenue for local economies.
Organizers in Asia, Europe and North America had canceled or
postponed at least 515 trade shows and exhibitions in response to
the coronavirus this year as of Thursday, according to a tally by
German expo trade magazine m+a.
Major events that have been canceled or postponed include the
Geneva International Motor Show, Barcelona's Mobile World Congress,
Miami's Ultra Music Festival and San Francisco's Game Developers
Conference.
In Austin, health officials, the city's mayor and others had
been having daily meetings over whether to proceed with South by
Southwest, which had more than 232,000 attendees and brought in
$355.9 million in economic activity last year, according to a study
ordered by conference organizers. Among the options health
officials considered was capping attendance at certain events in
order to minimize the risk of the virus spreading in close
contact.
Speculation over canceling the event had caused angst in recent
weeks in Austin about what the loss would mean to many locals'
livelihoods. It generates some 55,000 hotel room night stays, the
festival estimates, money spent at local restaurants and stores and
money in the pockets of waiters, cleaners and people who set up the
events.
As this week went on, more companies announced they were pulling
out of the event, including Broadcast Music Inc., which canceled a
series of songwriters' shows Friday.
"The health and safety of our team members and our songwriters
is of paramount importance, and we regret any inconvenience this
may cause," it said in a statement. "We look forward to showcasing
our songwriters' incredible music next year at SXSW 2021."
Jackie Venson, an Austin musician who had planned to play at a
Twitter gathering, said Thursday that canceling the festival could
threaten Austin's status as one of the nation's fastest-growing
cities and diminish a critical economic boost that benefits workers
with overtime and bigger tips, and can keep the lights on at
struggling startup bars and restaurants.
"Some people live off this money for the next six months,"
Venson said. "Some bars and restaurants open around SXSW to make it
through their first year. They depend on SXSW just to get their
establishment started."
Although the official festival was cancelled, it was unclear
what would happen with the many unaffiliated concerts and parties
that take place on the periphery of the event. Andrew Lee, who
operates a web guide to unofficial festival events, said more than
400 were scheduled as of Friday. He suspected many will go on.
Local officials said events with 2,500 or more people were now
prohibited unless organizers obtained special approval.
Chip Dolan, an Austin-based piano player who also drives for
Uber and Lyft, said cancelling SXSW would hurt. "It is all day
long, all night long," he said of demand for rides. "If I get up at
8 o'clock and want to drive for three hours, it's as good as any
day of the week."
Mr. Dolan had lined up a half dozen official SXSW gigs as a
sideman, and another half dozen unofficial ones. He was hopeful
musicians and fans would keep the unofficial shows going, but was
also reflective about what a cancellation meant.
"I think it will wake some people up that this is serious," he
said.
--Collin Eaton and Russell Gold contributed to this article.
Write to Rebecca Elliott at rebecca.elliott@wsj.com and
Elizabeth Findell at Elizabeth.Findell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2020 18:46 ET (23:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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