SXSW festival is canceled as Austin declares local disaster over coronavirus outbreak
The South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, is canceled over concerns of the coronavirus outbreak, officials say.
SXSW announced Friday afternoon that the city canceled the March festival.
“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,” organizers said in a news release. “We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.”
The festival was canceled by order of Austin Public Health, the Austin Chronicle reported.
Dr. Mark Escott, the interim medical director and health authority for Austin Public Health, said new evidence shows that allowing the festival to continue could quickly spread COVID-19, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
High-profile companies, including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Mashable, already had decided against attending the music and arts festival, The Associated Press reported.
Festival organizers had planned to move forward with the event until Friday’s announcement.
“However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin’s decision,” SXSW organizers said in the news release. “We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites.”
Will SXSW tickets be refunded?
SXSW organizers left open the possibility that the festival will be rescheduled. They also mentioned in their release plans to provide a “virtual SXSW online experience” as quickly as possible.
The festival hasn’t announced whether ticket refunds will be offered. The first weekend of the festival was scheduled to start next Friday.
It plans to “be in touch as soon as possible” with participants and release answers to a list of frequently asked questions.
According to its website, for past festivals SXSW hasn’t offered refunds “under any circumstances.”
“Any and all payments made to SXSW are not refundable for any reason, including, without limitation, failure to use credentials due to illness, acts of God, travel-related problems, acts of terrorism, loss of employment and/or duplicate purchases,” according to the website.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 4:26 PM.