THE world has been grinded to a sudden halt by the spread of coronavirus.
Many of our favourite events have been cancelled or postponed as the we try to help reduce the spread of the virus.
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The terms ‘social distancing’ and ‘mass gatherings’ have become prevalent in recent weeks as the nation tries to get a grip of coronavirus.
In light of this information, governments around the world have given the advice that we should try to limit contact with each other, and called for large events – which could be potential breeding grounds for the disease to be cancelled.
The implications of this could be huge as many jobs will be lost and companies are set to lose millions in revenue.
Also, fans of these spectacles will be devastated, as most will have been looking forward to attending the events since their announcements.
But its not all doom and gloom as some events have been postponed to a later date in the year, while some have been cancelled entirely, maybe until the situation improves.
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Eurovision (May 12-16)
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled for the first time in its 65 year history on March 18, 2020.
It was planned to take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands,who won the last contest in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2019.
But organisers plan to make the tickets purchased this year, roll over to next years edition of the event in 2021.
Glastonbury (June 24-28)
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One of the world’s biggest music festivals has been cancelled this year.
This wasn’t the case just last week, when organiser Emily Eavis said she had “fingers firmly crossed” the event would still go ahead.
After the government issued advice for people to avoid mass gatherings on Monday, the stance on this was changed. On March 18, organisers took to Twitter to let the public know that the event will in-fact be cancelled, saying: “we are so sorry to announce this, but we are going to have to cancel Glastonbury 2020.”
In a show of goodwill, the decision was made to cancel Glastonbury before April 1, the date when festival-goers would of had to of pay the remainder of their £270 balance.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
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Following the governments announcement that it will be advising against all mass gatherings, on March 17 the decision was made with immediate effect to cancel the annual flower show until June 30 at the earliest.
This is the first time that the flower show has been cancelled since WW2.
About the decision RHS said: “This is a worldwide, unprecedented and challenging time for so many people and of course the health and safety of our members, visitors, exhibitors and staff remains our number one priority.”
Billboard Music Awards 2020 (April 29)
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The event was postponed by organisers on March 17 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was set to be held in Las Vegas and broadcast around the world live on April 29.
Organisers said:
‘In accordance with the current guidelines set forth by national and local health officials and in order to ensure the health and safety of our artists, fans, guests and staff – we are postponing the Billboard Music Awards.
A new date for the star-studded event has not yet been announced.
Extinction Rebellion Mass Action Protest (May 23)
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Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion cancelled its next London protest on March 13.
The group had scheduled a mass protest on March 23, to call for action to tackle the climate crisis.
The planned protest would have caused major disruption over the bank holiday weekend.
But due to concerns about Covid-19, the group have cancelled the protest for the foreseeable future.
London Marathon 2020 (April 26)
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The decision to postpone this year’s London Marathon was made on March 13.
Organisers took to Twitter to inform the public of this decision.
The event, which usually attracts 43,000 participants yearly, raising millions for charity, has been rescheduled to Sunday, 4 October , 2020.
Hugh Brasher, the event’s director said about the decision: We know how disappointing this news will be for so many – the runners who have trained for many months, the thousands of charities for which they are raising funds and the millions who watch the race every year.”
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2020 (April 10-12/17 -19)
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Both weekends of Coachella were postponed on March 10 until October.
New dates for the festival have been released and it will now take place in the weekends of October 9-11 and 16-18, respectively.
More information about refunds will be sent to the people who purchased tickets for the event.
South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival (March 13-22)
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After all major tech companies including Apple, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok withdrew from the SXSW, on March 6, organisers had no choice but to cancel the tech and music festival.
At the present time there are no plans to hold the festival at a later date, although options are being explored to to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible.
The London Book Fair (March 10-12)
On March 4, Reed Exhibitions-organisers of the London Book fair announced that it will be cancelling the event this year.
In regards to this decision Reed Exhibitions said: “We are devastated to share this news with you. “The show must go on” is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.”
With most major book publishers pulling out, there have been no plans to reschedule the fair at this stage.
Google I/O Conference (May 12/14)
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Google has cancelled its biggest event of the year due to the spread of coronavirus.
The conference was cancelled on March 3, just days after Google scrapped its ‘Cloud Next’ event in San Francisco.
Google typically uses I/O as its biggest news event of the year to introduce new changes to Android, Google-powered hardware, and even updates to services like Google Maps.
Organisers have said would-be attendees will be refunded the money for the conference by March 13, and be automatically given the option to buy a ticket for next years edition.
St.Patrick’s Day (March 17)
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The event which is celebrated globally was cancelled by Belfast City Council on March 9.
St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and is celebrated annually on his feast day, March 17.
The cancellation of St.Patrick’s Day did not stop revellers from celebrating as this year a virutal parade was held with people celebrating together at home.
