Officials in Austin, Texas, have cancelled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival.
Officials in Austin, Texas, have cancelled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival.
Mayor Steve Adler said Friday he’d declared a “local disaster” in the city as a precaution because of the threat of the coronavirus, effectively cancelling the annual event, which was due to start March 13.
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, the county’s top elected official, said no one in the Austin area has been found to have the coronavirus. However, South by Southwest (SXSW) was expected to draw an international audience into close quarters, posing a serious threat of contagion.
Festival organizers said in a statement that they were “devastated” by the necessity of the move.
“‘The show must go on’ is in our DNA,