Austin Health Officials Don’t Expect Spring SXSW to Happen in 2021
I know people miss concerts and festivals right now. It looks like one of the biggest in Texas, won't be happening again.
I need to stress this before we get into this story. No one at SXSW has officially cancelled the spring festival for 2021. Austin and Travis County's health official Dr. Mark Escott is saying that hosting large gatherings in early 2021 would be too risky right now. SXSW happens in March.
In a media briefing on Wednesday he said we could hope for large gatherings again by April, May or June, but likely not in time for South by Southwest in March. “I think it’s important to remember that large events were the first thing we turned off and will likely be the last thing we turn back on,” Escott said. “But, the situation — as the vaccine becomes available, as people get the vaccine and as we move more toward herd immunity — that risk for large surges will start to diminish.”
It's estimated that SXSW brings around 100,000 people into Austin every year. Judging from the SXSW website, they're planning to do an online festival from March 16th to the 20th next year. 2020's SXSW was cancelled just a few days before it was actually supposed to happen. March 6th was the official cancellation date for the event and it was scheduled to kickoff on March 13th.
It is estimated that SXSW brings in over 300 million dollars for the Austin economy every year it happens. We will see what the future holds as we're still four months away from the event.