The new normal? Concerts, festivals canceled amid coronavirus concerns
Damien Willis, Las Cruces Sun-News [Photo: Chris Lang]
I nearly fell out of my chair last week when I heard that the city of Austin had canceled the South by Southwest music, film and technology conference. The cancellation, prompted by a local disaster declaration by Mayor Steve Adler amid growing concerns over the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, marks the first time in 34 years the March festival will not take place.
This is big news — and not just for ticketholders. SXSW organizers estimate last year’s conference had a total impact of more than $355 million on the local economy. Nearly 300,000 people attended the conference in 2019.
This appears to be the new normal, at least for the immediate future.
The World Health Organization on Saturday said the global number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had surpassed 100,000. The new virus has resulted in more than 2,700 deaths worldwide.
More than 20,000 music events have been canceled or postponed since January in China and Hong Kong, Billboard reported this week. On Feb. 14, R&B artist Khalid – El Paso’s favorite son — postponed his Asian tour dates citing concerns for “the safety of Khalid's fans, his team and everyone who has been working on these concerts.” Khalid was set to perform in Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai and Bangalore between March 24-April 14.
Several American artists have canceled tour dates in Asia. Mariah Carey postponed a Honolulu due to concerns over evolving travel restrictions, and Miami’s three-day Ultra Music Festival — which was scheduled to take place March 20-22 — was canceled on March 4.
Yascha Mounk, writing for The Atlantic on Tuesday, made a pretty compelling case for canceling — well, just about everything. This includes athletic events, political rallies and conferences.
“Do you head a sports team? Play your games in front of an empty stadium,” Mounk wrote. “Are you organizing a conference? Postpone it until the fall. Do you run a business? Tell your employees to work from home. Are you the principal of a school or the president of a university? Move classes online before your students get sick and infect their frail relatives. Are you running a presidential campaign? Cancel all rallies right now.”
It’s clear that we’ve reached the point at which, as a nation, we’re trying to strike a delicate balance. In countries that have been harder hit by COVID-19, public health officials have found “social distancing” to be most effective in slowing transmission of the disease. Italy this week basically put the whole country — and its 60 million citizens — on lockdown.
The thing is, the experts say social distancing works best when you go all the way.
As I write this, Billboard is reporting that organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Festival – both scheduled for next month in Indio, California – are working to postpone both festivals to October. If that’s not possible, the magazine suggests both could be canceled.
And, of course, all of this comes as the NCAA basketball conference tournaments are taking place – and just ahead of full-blown March Madness. The National College Players Association last month called for “a serious discussion about holding competitions without an audience present” — a precaution that has been implemented for sporting events in other countries.
Too much of this is in flux to predict what sort of disruptions lie ahead. But, insofar as large gatherings are concerned, I suspect we’re beginning to get a glimpse of the new normal.
Damien Willis is a columnist for Pulse, writing primarily about entertainment and pop culture. He may be reached at dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.
