Netflix pulling out of SXSW Festival 2020 over coronavirus outbreak

Netflix is pulling out of the SXSW Festival 2020 amid fears over the coronavirus.

As it stands, there have been 11 confirmed deaths from the
outbreak in the United States, with the annual music, film and television festival
expected to take place from March 13-22 in Austin, Texas.

Both Apple and Amazon Studios have dropped out of the event and it’s expected Netflix will follow suit, according to Variety.

The streaming giant was hoping to present for documentaries – A Secret Love, L.A. Originals, Mucho Mucho Amor and Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics – as well as a panel for its new series Black Excellence starring Rashida Jones.

However, organisers are still hopeful SXSW Festival will be
going ahead.

‘Right now there’s no evidence that closing SXSW or other activities is going to make this community safer. We’re constantly monitoring that situation,’ they said in a statement yesterday.

Here in the UK, Glastonbury Festival – headlined by Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney with Diana Ross also confirmed for 2020 – has been unable to assure the event will definitely go ahead.

‘Glastonbury Festival thoroughly plans each year’s event,
and puts in place all necessary measures to protect the public and maximise
safety,’ Glasto’s head of event operations told Somerset Live. Coombs told
Somerset Live. 

He continued: ‘We work closely with all of the relevant
agencies, including Public Health England and the NHS, and always review our
plans as any circumstances change.

‘With this in mind and with our 2020 Festival still 16 weeks
away, we continue to plan and prepare for the event, whilst at the same time
closely monitoring developments with the coronavirus situation.’ 

The outbreak has halted wreaked havoc for several TV shows too with The Only Way is Essex having to scrap its Tenerife special, while the studio which hosts Catchphrase confirmed a case among its employees this week.

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