An event flag for SXSW blows in the wind after the music and tech festival was canceled over growing concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak in Austin, Texas, U.S. March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Flores
(Reuters) – The South by Southwest music, technology and film festival in Austin, Texas, was canceled on Friday, adding to a growing list of events being suspended around the world over concerns about the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
Known as SXSW, the annual showcase of pop culture had been scheduled to run March 13 to 22. Organizers and local officials said at a news conference that they had concluded it was unwise to draw crowds of people together in close proximity with the number of coronavirus cases rising around the world.
The novel coronavirus has spread across more than 90 countries. No cases have been confirmed in Austin.
“It is not a panic decision,” Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said of the cancellation.
SXSW began 33 years ago as a music festival but…
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