the American festival South by Southwest canceled

The Covid-19 will have won the 2020 edition of the great cultural festival South by Southwest (SXSW). While this major annual meeting of new technologies was to be held from March 13 to 22 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is canceled because of fears related to the epidemic due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, announced the mayor of the city Friday March 6. "I have issued a decree which cancels the holding of South by Southwest for this year"said Austin’s Mayor Steve Adler at a press conference.

Only a handful of people infected have so far been reported in Texas, but the mayor of Austin has declared a local state of emergency in the face of the spread of the disease, of which more than 200 cases have been recorded in all the United States. United. At least 12 people have died in the country, including eleven in Washington State (northwest) alone, according to an assessment by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official figures.

Netflix, Apple and Amazon have already announced that they will not participate in SXSW, whose 2019 edition and its associated events had attracted more than 400,000 people. The American specialized media Mashable or the Chinese social network TikTok had also given up on going to the festival.

First cancellation in thirty-four years

"We respect the decision of the city of Austin. We are committed to doing our part to help protect our employees, festival goers and the people of Austin. ”, wrote festival officials in a statement.

An Update on SXSW 2020. Please read our full statement here: https://t.co/P56nF8KFmE https://t.co/ouJPKM9GNy

– sxsw (@SXSW)

"We are devastated to share this news with you", also wrote the organizers before clarifying that this cancellation was "The first in thirty-four years". "" The show must go on "is in our DNA", they added, adding that they were going "Explore options for rescheduling the event".

The electronic music festival Ultra Music Festival, which was to be held in Miami from March 20 to 22 and drains more than 160,000 people, also announced its cancellation on Friday because of the Covid-19. Finally, the famous Coachella festival, which is due to start on the weekend of April 10 in the California desert, has so far given no indication of a possible cancellation.