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This comes just one week after Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the show . As fears over the coronavirus have escalated, so has the pressure on festival organizers and city officials. In fact, according to , it was Adler who ordered organizers to cancel the festival, which was scheduled from March 13-22.

“Based on the recommendation of our public health officer and director of public health, and after consultation with our city manager I’ve gone ahead and declared a local disaster. And along with that issued an order that cancels SXSW this year,” Adler said during a press conference on Friday afternoon.

This is the first time the event has been canceled in its 34 years, according to a from the conference organizers. SXSW organizers said they are looking into ways to reschedule the event and 鈥渨orking to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU.鈥�

鈥淲e understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilize SXSW to accelerate their careers; for the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses 鈥� venues, theatres, vendors, production companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that SXSW attracts,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淲e will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it鈥檚 true that our March 2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose 鈥� helping creative people achieve their goals.鈥�

Earlier this week, we touched on the fact that startups and venture capitalists were following the lead of large companies such as and by backing out of the conference.

The event draws an estimated 400,000 people to the Texas capital each year, and the economic impact on the city will be huge. The 2019 South by Southwest festival had a $355.9 million impact on Austin鈥檚 economy, according to an referenced by the .

In fact, the 2019 event had the biggest economic impact in SXSW鈥檚 33-year history. Further, SXSW 鈥渋s the most profitable event for the city鈥檚 hospitality industry,鈥� according to the report and as cited by the Statesman.

Rumors in the Austin community indicate that organizers waited for Mayor Adler to declare a disaster before canceling for insurance purposes.

Anecdotally, the results of that 附近上门 News Senior Reporter Mary Ann Azevedo posted earlier this week supported the decision. Out of 101 votes, 70.3 percent of respondents said that SXSW should be canceled or postponed.

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On March 2, and announced they would back out of the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival being held in Austin, Texas, due to fears over coronavirus (COVID-19). Today, Intel followed suit. A petition is being circulated by mostly Austin residents asking organizers to cancel the annual event (as of this morning, it had ). Now it appears that startup founders and venture capitalists, too, are nixing plans to attend SXSW 鈥� scheduled for March 13 to 22 鈥� due to coronavirus concerns.

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I reached out to SXSW organizers to get their reaction, and they referred me to on their website that said they are working closely on a daily basis with local, state and federal agencies to plan for a safe event.

鈥淎s a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, we are proceeding with the 2020 event with the health and safety of our attendees, staff, and volunteers as our top priority,鈥� they continued.

No doubt the unprecedented cancellation of SXSW would have a major economic impact on the Texas capital. The 2019 South by Southwest festival had a $355.9 million impact on Austin鈥檚 economy, according to an referenced by the .

In fact, the 2019 event had the biggest economic impact in SXSW鈥檚 33-year history. Further, SXSW 鈥渋s the most profitable event for the city鈥檚 hospitality industry,鈥� according to the report and as cited by the Statesman.

鈥楴ot worth it鈥�

As SXSW organizers no doubt scramble to deal with the crisis, we talked to a few startup founders and VCs to hear about why they鈥檙e skipping the festival this year.

, founder and CEO of San Diego-based , told me he鈥檚 going to cancel his plans to attend SXSW. This is a big deal, he said, because his company (which recently raised a $6 million Series A) is in the pitch event for consumer tech.

As a new parent, Barbo said the risk simply isn鈥檛 worth it. And his co-founders, team and investors are all supportive of his decision.

鈥淎ttending SXSW is not the best decision for my family,鈥� he told me in a phone conversation this morning. 鈥淲e were honored to be selected for the pitch competition and it hurts me to pass that up, but with so many people converging on the city, it seems inevitable that something will come out of it if the event continues.鈥�

Barbo, too, is disappointed in organizers and city officials for not taking things like Facebook and Twitter backing out, and the concerns of residents and attendees more seriously .

鈥淚 hate to say it, because SXSW has always had an immaculate reputation, but this feels like a lack of leadership on the part of organizers and the City of Austin,鈥� he told me.

, co-founder and CEO of Bay Area-based , said he was planning to fly to Austin for SXSW but in light of the virus, his company has 鈥渞estricted all non-essential travel.鈥�

鈥淪XSW has become one of those events that you feel like you should go to. There鈥檚 a lot of creative thinkers there,鈥� he told me via Zoom this morning. 鈥淏ut it takes just one employee coming down with it to shut down a whole office. So I鈥檓 not going.鈥�

Jain too shares Barbo鈥檚 surprise that the event is even still happening.

鈥淲颈迟丑 and Facebook cancelling their events, why would these guys continue? In fact, I should get my money back,鈥� he said. “The amount of bad press they鈥檒l get might ruin the brand for years going forward.”

VCs chime in

But it鈥檚 not just founders. VCs and investors also are opting to stay home.

Tim Ferriss, investor and聽host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast,聽 this morning that he’s not going.

“After much thought, I’ve cancelled my attendance at SXSW. I love SXSW, but I don’t believe the novel coronavirus can be contained, and I view an int’l event of 100K+ people as a huge risk to attendees and the entire city, given limited ICU beds, etc.”

On Twitter, San Francisco-based co-founder and GP revealed that after moving all in-person meetings to video, she also 鈥渃ancelled SXSW.鈥�

Via DM, she told me that her decision stems from the fact that COVID-19 seems highly contagious from the initial data.

鈥淲hile I鈥檓 not worried about how it could affect my health, I鈥檓 worried about potentially becoming a carrier,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淥ur health system in the US seemingly cannot handle a large volume of cases, so I thought it was best to do my part in society and slow the number of cases. If they made it online, including the event I was supposed to judge, I鈥檇 be happy to still partake.鈥�

And, a Los Angeles-based VC told me that one of his teammates had agreed to attend SXSW this year. He wrote me via DM: 鈥淪he has asked not to go and we agreed she should not. We instituted a policy today strongly advising against attending any conferences until further notice (along with other guidelines).鈥�

Ultimately, are organizers willing to sacrifice safety and health for dollars? Guess we鈥檒l see. While it would no doubt be extremely difficult, and expensive, to cancel or postpone at this stage, they may have no choice if public pressure continues to build.

Meanwhile, head here to read about how聽heightened concerns about germs are contributing to a surge in sales for some startups in the disinfecting space.

Note: Post-publication, Founder said she is also not attending SXSW.

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