More events such as the Bentonville Film Festival, Ultra Music Festival and others are being cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to escalate, it seems that the entertainment industry has been impacted the most. Hollywood executives are not only taking precautions for the sake of public health, but are also forming strategies in order to minimize economic losses. We already know that the worldwide release date for No Time to Die was shifted from early April to November 25, 2020, and that the popular K-pop group BTS has cancelled a series of planned concerts in Seoul, scheduled to take place in April, 2020, among many other events.
Recent reports suggest that more events are being cancelled or postponed amid travel restrictions and increasing health warnings. Organizers of industry conferences, press tours and film festivals are evaluating options for delaying or cancelling upcoming events. Abroad, China and Italy, two countries with the highest numbers of contagion, have temporarily closed movie theatres.
Singer and songwriter Mariah Carey announced on Twitter about rescheduling her March 10 concert in Hawaii. She has now moved the Honolulu concert stop to November 28. Apart from this, various international festivals have been postponed/cancelled including SXSW, the film, music and tech festival that was supposed to take place later this month in Austin as well as the Beijing International Film Festival, originally scheduled for late April 2020, has been postponed to an unknown future date due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The list of events that have been rescheduled also include the Geena Davis-cofounded Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas – the festival which was slated to take place from April 29-May 2 has now been moved to August 5-8, 2020. Moreover, the 21-year-old electronic music festival, Ultra Music Festival, in Miami has been canceled. As far as industry events are concerned, Deadline reported that Fox Entertainment has canceled its program development presentations, while Disney has canceled its European press launch for Disney+ in London, which was scheduled for March 5. “The event at the Exhibition London event space to “celebrate the European launch of Disney+” was expected to include “exclusive” presentations from key executives and creative heads, along with several special guests,” noted Deadline.
– With information from Variety and Deadline
