As we reported yesterday, festivals around the world have been cancelling their shows in response to the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19.
Word spread via Miami officials that this year’s Ultra Music Festival would be the first major American festival to be postponed.
We thought it odd that the festival’s socials were quiet and their website was still selling tickets. However, those socials came alive today and the Ultra Music Festival website now redirects to an official statement confirming that the festival is not going to happen this year.
“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,” the statement reads. “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.”
The statement concludes with a note that ticket buyers will receive an email next Monday “regarding the next steps.”
The document uses the word “postponed,” but the 2020 festival originally scheduled to open on March 20 is being “postponed” to March 26 – in 2021, a year later.
Update: SXSW in Austin has also been cancelled following a disaster declaration by the mayor of Austin. SXSW was scheduled to begin next week but had already seen Twitter and other tech giants pull out.
[…] Update: Ultra Music Festival Breaks Silence on 2020 Cancellation […]