Austin, Travis County Officials Declare Local Disaster, Cancel SXSW 2020

Staff Reports

On Friday, City of Austin and Travis County officials gathered for a press conference to announce South by Southwest would be canceled for the first time in 34 years.

Over the last week, several companies and speakers have pulled out of the conference due to concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Mayor Steve Adler said, based on the recommendation of Austin’s Public Health Officer and Director of Public Health and consultation with the city manager, he has declared a local disaster in the city of Austin and has issued an order that effectively cancels SXSW.

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has signed an accompanying declaration of disaster that will apply to festival gatherings that are attracting people from areas that have documented cases of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.

“Panic will weaken us,” Eckhardt said. “This is not a panic-based decision. This is a decision based on expert medical opinion that we should cancel or discourage festival and mass gatherings county-wide that are drawing participants from other areas in the world that have documented of person-to-person transmission.”

Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County Public Health Authority, said there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Travis County, but the threat is growing across the United States and locally.

“Now is not the time to panic,” Dr. Escott said. “Now is the time to prepare and to provide a measured response to that threat. This is not unlike a hurricane looming in the Gulf…This is an effort to carefully consider and weigh the risk of the spread of COVID-19 as well as the mitigation strategies of canceling the event.”

Dr. Escott said people over the age of 60 and with pre-existing health conditions are the most vulnerable, and anyone who is sick should avoid public places, such as work or school.

Stephanie Hayden, Director of Public Health for the City of Austin, said the city would be working with event organizers to implement a disease mitigation plan; each event will be evaluated case by case.

“The existence of this virus is unfortunate,” Adler said. “But it’s unfortunate for everybody and for the whole world. It’s times like this that you realize that all of us are in this together regardless of what city or state or country we’re in.”

The Spring Festival season runs from next Friday, March 13, through March 22.

The full press conference can be watched here.

South By Southwest Officials released the following statement regarding the decision.

The City of Austin has canceled 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.