South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, one of the biggest music and independent film festivals has been canceled out of concerns of the coronavirus.

According to WOOD, March 13 would have been the kick off for SXSW where musicians from all over the United States and around the world gather to perform showcases for industry reps. The festival is also one of the biggest independent film festivals in the world.

I am sure a lot of businesses and people will loose a lot of money over this cancellation.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler called the cancellation a local emergency. Mayor Adler consulted health officials that guided him to cancel the event.

Even before the Austin mayor cancelled the event, many people who planned on being there like Ozzy Osbourne, Trent Reznor and members of the Beastie Boys had already cancelled their plans. Plus social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and others like Apple and Amazon had already pulled from the event.

There had been a petition going around to get the festival cancelled and as of Friday there were already 56,000 signatures on it.

There have not been any cases of COVID-19 in Travis County where the festival is held but the conference Interim Health Authority, Mark Escott said, "this is a time to prepare and to provide a measured response to that threat. This is not like a hurricane looming in the gulf."

This is the first time in 34 years of the event that it has been cancelled.

I'm sure there will be events being cancelled as the coronavirus continues to spread.

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