Cancel culture is taking on a new connotation as popular events — like Facebook F8, South by Southwest (SXSW), and, soon... maybe Coachella — scrap their plans over fears about the spread of COVID-19. Now, we can add SF's St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Sunday Streets to that ballooning list.
The 34th annual SXSW will cease to happen this year. Facebook, too, recently canceled it's most attended company-specific event, set to take place in San Jose come May. Coachella? Who knows. (But it's not looking good.) And Friday, SF axed the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade and the non-profit organization Livable City put the brakes on the ever-popular Sunday Streets parties, in addition to a number of other events and happenings also shutting down, according to Mission Local and SF Weekly.
SF Weekly is maintaining a live list of conferences and events cancelled over coronavirus concerns. Know of more? Drop me a line!https://t.co/VrogOJ2mmO
— Michael Toren (@Michael_Toren) March 6, 2020
Sunday Streets and SF's St Patrick's Day Parade were canceled in tandem with more large local gatherings — including Gays For Good, Chantey Sing at Hyde Street Pier, and San Francisco Public Works Arbor Week Eco Fair — after SF released a joint statement populated with “aggressive new recommendations."
One of those suggestions was to "avoid gatherings of more than 50 people," precautions that inevitably lead to the early end of those events; it's also expected the decision, though CDC-recommended, will have lasting impacts on San Francisco's economy, Michael Toren of the SF Weekly noting some $138M in revenue could be lost to the novel disease.
Again, both the SF Weekly and KRON4 are keeping up-to-date lists of closures and cancellations — though, the latter-mentioned outlet is tallying Bay Area-wide haltings — so check back with both sources to stay current.
There are now reported 105,000-plus cases of COVID-19 across the globe, according to data procured from John Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Related: SF Department of Public Health Suggests 'Social Distancing' to Slow Spread of Coronavirus
Coronavirus Fears Shut Down Beloved Bay Area Treasure, the Exploratorium's Tactile Dome
South By Southwest Canceled — Could Coachella Be Next?
Image: Wikimedia
