Source: Danny Matson / Getty
The coronavirus has the world clutching its pearls as the number of people infected by the virus continues to rise.
With big events like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in danger of being canceled, and the Game Developers Conference that was supposed to take place in March being postponed this latest development comes as no surprise. City officials in Austin announced today (Mar.6) that SXSW will be canceled this year amid concerns of the coronavirus, which is spreading across the United States.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler said during a press conference that he declared a local emergency and “together with that I have issued an order that effectively cancels South by Southwest this year.” The festival would have taken place on March 13-22. There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus before Adler’s announcement.
The decision to cancel the popular festival that combines music, film, and technology will be a first in the festivals 34-year history. Before the announcement, companies like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Apple, Netflix Amazon, and the Concord record label group pulled out of SXSW to protect its employees as a result of the coronavirus quickly spreading across the US.
We wouldn’t be shocked if more big events, conferences, and music festivals like Coachella, E3, San Diego, and New York Comic-Con, just to name a few, will follow SXSW and also pull the plug this year. Experts are predicting that the coronavirus will have a significant effect on the global economy and the US stock market, which has been a nightmare since this epidemic began reflects that.
Photo: Danny Matson / Getty
