Within the last week, two major American music festivals—the EDM-centric Ultra Music Festival in Miami and the sprawling industry gathering SXSW in Austin—have been canceled due to public health concerns about the COVID-19 virus.
The French festival TomorrowLand was also canceled, and Coachella, the Indio, Calif., standard-bearer for festival culture in the U.S., has been postponed from its usual April date until October.
Whether or not other events are canceled or postponed going forward, the virus has already taken a major toll on the festival industry.
Festival cancellations happen for plenty of reasons, and have financial repercussions for everyone involved: artists, fans, staffers, vendors, and the festival organizers themselves.
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