Miami's Ultra Music Festival Cancels 2020 Event over Coronavirus Fears

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Mar 6, 2020

With multiple artists cancelling overseas tours over fears of the deadly coronavirus, events here in North America are now starting to be affected. News has broke that the Ultra Music Festival is calling off its 2020 event due to concerns of the coronavirus spreading at the Miami festival.

The three-day electronic music festival was set to kick off on March 20 at Miami's Bayfront Park, with performances scheduled by the likes of Flume, Gesaffelstein and Zedd. However, that will no longer be the case, according to a report by the Miami Herald.

The publication reports that earlier today representatives from Ultra met with Miami city officials, including Mayor Francis Suarez, Commissioner Joe Carollo and City Manager Art Noriega. And while the festival has not yet publicly announced the cancellation, the Miami Herald reports that the event will officially break the bad news on Friday morning (March 6) once various legal issues are sorted out.

Ultra will then not return until 2021, according to the report.

The news comes after a long list of artists recently cancelled tours over coronavirus fears, including Mac DeMarco, New Order, Avril Lavigne, the National, Wolf Parade, Green Day and many more. Various companies, such as Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Apple, have also pulled out of the fast-approaching SXSW, which is still scheduled to take place from March 13 to 22.

UPDATE (3/6, 2 p.m. EST): Ultra Music Festival has officially announced the "postponement" of its 2020 event. The fest will now be pushed back until March 26-28, 2021. But even though Ultra will no longer happen this year, organizers are avoiding the word "cancel" in the wording of its announcement.

The festival issued the following statement:


Dear Ultranauts,

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that The City of Miami has issued an official directive requiring that the 22nd edition of Ultra Music Festival, originally scheduled for March 20, 21 and 22, 2020 will be postponed to March 26, 27 and 28, 2021. Due to the Florida Governor's declaration of a public health emergency and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's Interim Guidance for COVID-19, it is impossible for the City to provide access to Bayfront Park at this time.

We completely understand how extremely frustrating this is because so many of you are looking forward to coming to Ultra, having already made travel arrangements.

This is, however, an unprecedented issue which is not being taken lightly, and we must continue to defer to the authorities for guidance. Ultimately, there is no higher priority for us than the health, safety and physical well-being of each of you, together with everyone else involved in the production of the event.

We sincerely thank you for your continued loyalty and patience during this difficult time.
All ticket purchasers will be contacted by email on Monday regarding next steps.

– Team Ultra

 

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