The fear of coronavirus spread has already affected schools, cruise ships, and religious congregations. It’s also coming for your social and professional schedule, too.
As Covid-19—the formal name for a flu-like illness that originated in Wuhan, China, and has now spread across the world. In which, more than 118,624,149 people are infected and about 2,631,409 people are killed around the world, there is growing concern that the disease could disrupt the opening of the Recent Olympic Games in 2021.
Festivals and events are woven into the fabric of modern life. They offer social, economic and cultural opportunities for the societies. In reaction to COVID-19, event organizers had to cancel or delay activities or change them to virtual experiences. Although the officials of the World Health Organization insist that Covid-19 has become a pandemic, they are concerned that it may transform into one of the organizers of major global events in every industry, from fashion to technology, architecture, and hospitality.
The coronavirus/COVID-19 epidemic has led to the postponement, rescheduling or even cancellation of public events by various organizations and event organizers. Various local, national and international events, including athletic events, festivals and conferences, cannot take place as planned on the basis of laws and advice from governments and public health agencies against large crowds of individuals, as scheduled, if at all. And it might add to the pressure that coronavirus has already put on the world economy.
The list of some of the biggest activities that have been canceled or postponed due to coronavirus is mentioned below:
Festivals and Conferences postponed due to Coronavirus:
- Energy Conference of CERAWeek:
One of the largest conferences of energy industry professionals, scheduled to take place in Houston from 9 to 13 March, 2020, has been canceled.
- Made in America Festival:
The Made in America Festival of last year, organized by Jay-Z and scheduled for the Labor Day weekend, was canceled on July 1, with plans to return to the next Labor Day.
- The Art Basel:
The Art Basel flagship in Switzerland last year was canceled on 8 June, after being suspended from June to September. The December version, which took place in Miami Beach, Florida, is still on schedule.
- Facebook Global Marketing Summit:
Facebook also canceled its annual San Francisco Global Marketing Summit, which was supposed to host 5,000 participants.
- The ASEAN Meeting:
Reuters notes that US President Donald Trump has postponed a meeting with representatives of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for 14 March in Las Vegas.
- Conference of Game Developers
The largest annual meeting of game industry professionals, scheduled to take place in San Francisco between March 16 and 20, was canceled. Many top gaming firms, including Amazon, Facebook, Oculus, Microsoft, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, were already out of business.
- Conference of the American Physical Society
One of the biggest Physics conventions in the world was canceled one day before it was expected to take place in Colorado from 2nd to 6th March.
- Star Wars Celebration:
The festival, scheduled for August 27 to 30 in Anaheim, California, was canceled by the organizers on 15th June.
- Lollapalooza’s:
The Chicago Music Festival was formally canceled on June 9th. Lollapalooza will be replaced by a live stream event on the original dates from 30 July to 02 August.
- International conference on broadcasting:
The IBC in Amsterdam, planned for 11–15 September, was canceled on 18 May.
- Festival of the Karlovy Vary:
The 55th edition of the Czech Film Festival was canceled on April 28 and relocated to July 2-10, 2021.
- Azalea Festival in Japan:
The annual azalea festival in the village of Higashi, normally held in March, was canceled.
- NYC Pride March:
On April 20, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared the cancellation of permits for marches, parades, rallies, and other major gatherings for June events, including the Pride and Puerto Rican Days.
- Essence Festival:
The Essence Festival of Culture was officially canceled on 15 April 2020. On March 28, the festival, which was scheduled to take place in New Orleans from July 1 to 5, was eventually postponed to fall.
- Facebook’s Developers Conference:
The tech company canceled its annual F8 developer conference, scheduled to start on May 5 & 6 in California. It has said that it will maintain some of the conference’s online elements and organize local events instead.
- Governors Ball:
The Governors Ball in New York City, scheduled for June 5-7 in 2020, was canceled by the organizers on March 26. Ticket holders can transfer their vouchers to the festival next year or ask for a refund.
Launches, Screenings, and Premieres postponed due to Coronavirus:
- Legoland’s New York City
Legoland’s newest resort in the Hudson Valley postponed its opening from Independence Day 2020 to summer 2021, according to a statement issued on April 1st.
- Quibi Launch:
Quibi’s Launch Event in Los Angeles, scheduled for April 5 and hosting “Hollywood’s greatest stars and producers,” has been canceled. The streaming service will continue to be launched on 6 April, as intended.
- F9:
The ninth chapter of the Fast and Furious franchise relocated its worldwide release to April 2, 2021 Vin Diesel announced the news to social media followers. He said: “We’re feeling comfort & happiness that you have for the upcoming chapter of our story.” That is why it’s extremely difficult to let you know that we are going to postpone the film’s release date (All the Live Events, Movie Releases, and Productions Affected by the Coronavirus, JAN. 24, 2021)
- BTS Concerts in South Korea:
The Korean Boy Band canceled four concerts scheduled to take place in Seoul from 11 to 19 April as part of a world tour.
- The Lovebirds:
The comedy film starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani planned to be premiered at SXSW on March 14 (but while director Michael Showalter and the two stars had dropped out of the event), but the festival was canceled by the City of Austin. It’s going to be premiered on Netflix rather than in theatres.
- Superman: The New York Premiere of Red Son
Warner Bros. has decided to cancel the New York premiere of his animated film “Superman: Red Son” due to coronavirus issues.
- HBO:
Nicole Kidman’s limited series The Undoing had its premiere of May 10 delayed until October 25, 2020. On March 31, Mark Ruffalo, featuring I Know This Much Is True, was postponed from April 27 to May 10. On April 3, the debut of the Third Day was moved from May 11th to the fall. It was premiered on September 14.
Films and TV Shoots postponed due to Coronavirus:
- Cinderella
This live-action film-musical starring Camila Cabello was stopped by Sony in the United Kingdom in March and started to plan a restart in August.
- Terrace House:
The present Terrace House season was canceled on May 28, after the death of roommate “Hana Kimura”. The Tokyo-based reality TV show stopped production on April 7 after Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe announced a month-long state of emergency.
- Barry:
HBO has postponed the pre-production for the upcoming season of the show. “We look forward to continuing pre-production when it’s healthy and secure for everyone working on our shows to do so,” said the network on Friday, 27th March.” Wherever possible, our writers continue to write remotely.”
- The Channel of Hallmark
In addition to shutting down the Home & Family Daytime Lifestyle Program, production of each Hallmark Original Movie has been temporarily halted. These movies are both domestically and all around the world.
- Fargo:
Production was suspended on season 4 of the FX series as of March 16, with a new release date to be decided after the beginning of the shooting again.
- Love Island United Kingdom
ITV canceled Love Island 2020, set to start the production in Mallorca “very soon” during the summer, in a statement on Monday, May 4. An official announcement on Love Island’s winter 2020 season has not been released, although the ITV director noted that Love Island will not be back until 2021.
- Streaming:
Shows will be displayed at one of Japan’s most famous classical music events. After shutting down its doors as a health measure, the festival agreed to run concerts from 14 to 16 March, including performances by the Berlin Philharmoniker & soprano Michiko Hayashi, in an empty hall and live-streamed for free.
Sporting Events postponed due to Coronavirus:
- Marathon in New York City
The marathon in all five boroughs was canceled by the New York Road Runners and City officials on June 24 2020, with preparations for a virtual race to be revealed.
- USA Gymnastics:
USA Gymnastics canceled all major competitions for the rest of the year, including the U.S. Gymnastics Championship, which was rescheduled for June 2021 from the previous June 4th, 2020.
- Soccer:
The UEFA has postponed the European Soccer Championships until 2021. The MLS matches will be suspended for 30 days. The Champions League, the Premier League and the Europa League have all been postponed until further notification.
On the other hand, six soccer matches scheduled to take place in Italy have been postponed after restrictive outdoor sporting activities in the northern areas of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna.
- Baseball:
Major Baseball League will be returned on July 23 and 24, with players coming back to training on July 1. The league had previously canceled all of the spring training games and put back the opening day by 2 weeks, then indefinitely. Minor League Baseball is also set to postpone the 2020 season. On July 3, the MLB canceled the 2020 All-Star Game, which was scheduled to take place on July 14 at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, for the first time before 1945.
- NBA:
On July 30, NBA Basketball restarts the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, after a 5-month delay. The NBA agreed to postpone its 2020 season in March after Utah Jazz player “Rudy Gobert” had tested positive for COVID-19.
- Racing: Racing
NASCAR, Formula One, and Indy Car have all postponed the upcoming races, which will be canceled until April 2021.
- NHL:
NHL Professional hockey games have been canceled/postponed, partially because many NHL teams share facilities with the NBA.
- Pakistan Super League:
The Pakistan Super League was indefinitely postponed after six players and the support personnel tested positive for Covid-19, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Thursday. The PCB stated in a statement that the decision had been taken after a virtual meeting with the owners of the six PSL clubs. It triggered the failure of sporting events all over the world in a year when many four-year events such as the Olympics, Euro 2020, and Copa America are scheduled to take place. At that time, the number of confirmed cases in Pakistan was 184. So, the PSL 5 was postponed until the pandemic situation was controlled.
Religious Events postponed due to Coronavirus:
Many types of religious worship require mutual involvement and physical closeness between the participants. There is also a clear public health incentive to ban religious holidays and to close places of worship in order to avoid the spread of the virus. This is particularly true as the three main monotheistic religions of the world plan for the Mass celebrations of the Passover, Ramadan, and Easter.
- Religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia
The Saudi government has declared that it is temporarily prohibiting international pilgrims from entering the land which is home to the Muslim holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
- Christian Community:
The Christian Community was also permitted to celebrate their events like Easter, Christmas and many other, according to the SOPs provided by the government.
- Commitments of the Dalai Lama
The Buddhist spiritual leader declared that he would postpone the ordination ceremony for new monks and cancel all of his public duties until further notice due to a pandemic situation.
According to some figures, there are approximately 4,200 religions in which the churches, Masajids, denominations, religious organizations, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, and many other ultimate interests, which will be infinite in future. It is obvious that every religion has its own way of worshipping. So, every country’s authority had prepared the guidelines or precautionary measures to fulfill their obligations. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
This article has been updated with the most recent cancellation or postponement of coronavirus-related events.