It’s another sad day for music and film fans and industry professionals – SXSW is officially canceled. Per a statement on their website, The City of Austin was the prime factor in the decision, however, this comes quickly on the heels of some high profile conference withdrawals. Over the last few days, Facebook, Intel, Twitter, and TikTok have all canceled their presence. However, just 3 days ago, their website was talking about celebrity additions such as Chris Evans and Kumail Nanjiani, along with an announcement of free music available to patrons without a badge just this morning. Patrons have not received word yet if their near $1,400+ badges will be refunded at this point in time.
“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.”
Read the release here: https://www.sxsw.com/2020-event-update/
Read more about the cancellation here: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/06/sxsw-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus.html
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
