Well it's official the Coronavirus has ruined our lives. Okay.. okay that may be a little much for an opening line but taking into consideration that the stock market took a nose dive, airlines are going belly up, schools are closing and now music festivals are being cancelled I think that it's safe to say that in a small insignificant way our lives have been ruined ( I'm not making light of those who have passed due to the virus ). SXSW is a huge festival with sponsors like Apple and that translates into enormous amounts of money. My question is did the festival get cancelled due to sponsors backing out and revenue being affected or was it truly goodwill on behalf or the Austin Public Health department? As John Mayer said, "When they own the information they can bend it all they want" I don't know the answer to that and I'm not suggesting anything other than we all deserve the truth. Here is the official press release on the cancellation from the SXSW website. You be the judge.

The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions.

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. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.

As recently as Wednesday, Austin Public Health stated that “there’s no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer.” However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin’s decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites.

We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU. For our registrants, clients, and participants we will be in touch as soon as possible and will publish an FAQ.

We understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilize SXSW to accelerate their careers; for the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses – venues, theatres, vendors, production companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that SXSW attracts.

We will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it’s true that our March 2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose – helping creative people achieve their goals.

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