December 11, 2024

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Specialists in technology

Coronavirus cancellations and delays: Burning Man, Democratic convention, more

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Major events are closing down due to concerns over COVID-19.


Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO website.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc. As people are ordered to stay at home and avoid contact with others, a cascade of cancellations and postponements has wiped major events off the calendar.

Disneyland and Disney World are closed. Movies from James Bond to Black Widow have been postponed. Big events such as SXSW, the E3 gaming show, the Geneva and Detroit auto shows and Mobile World Congress have all been called off. Coachella, the Cannes film fest and the Eurovision Song Contest have been hit. The NBA suspended its season, as have many more sports leagues. Formula One and Wimbledon are off too.

The latest major event to be affected: On April 10, Burning Man 2020 became an online-only affair.

Here’s how the outbreak is impacting our lives with postponements, cancellations and closures.

Sporting events

  • UFC 249 UFC president Dana White said on April 9 that the event, slated for April 18, was canceled.
  • British Open On April 6, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club announced that the 149th British Open championship will be delayed until 2021.
  • Wimbledon On April 1, the 2020 tennis championship was moved to 2021, when it will run from June 28 to July 11.
  • Tokyo Olympics On March 24, the International Olympic Committee and Japan’s prime minister said the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games will be postponed. On March 30, the IOC said the games will now be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021, with the Paralympic Games running from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5, 2021.
  • NBA On March 11, the NBA suspended the rest of the 2019-2020 season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus.
  • Formula One The Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2020 Formula One season, was canceled after a McLaren team member tested positive for the virus. Upcoming races in Bahrain and Vietnam have been postponed.
  • English Premier League English football authorities have suspended all matches until at least April 3 after a player and coach on different teams tested positive for the virus. On March 17, European soccer’s governing body UEFA postponed its European Championship national tournament to next year. This may allow leagues including the EPL to finish their seasons over the summer.
  • Major League Soccer The MLS season was suspended on March 12 as it “continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 with its medical task force and public health officials.”
  • NCAA Several major Division I conferences in the NCAA, including the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and American Athletic Conference, said on March 12 that they would cancel their respective conference tournaments this week. The March Madness tournament was also canceled.  
  • NHL On March 12, the National Hockey League joined the list of sporting bodies suspending their season.
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    Kevin Durant and Rudy Gobert — seen here facing each other in 2017 — have both tested positive for coronavirus.


    Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

  • MLB Major League Baseball spring training games were suspended, and health fears initially delayed the start of the 2020 baseball regular season by at least two weeks. On March 16, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared updated recommendations restricting events with more than 50 people for the next eight weeks, the MLB said it would follow those guidelines and further delay the opening of the regular season
  • The Masters Tournament The Augusta National Golf Club postponed the 2020 Masters Tournament on March 13, citing “the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community.” The club didn’t provide a new date for the tournament.
  • Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby Festival postponed all events through April 4, with the Kentucky Derby race reportedly postponed until Sept. 5.
  • Boston Marathon Originally set to take place on April 20, the Boston Marathon will now run Sept. 14, according to the Boston Athletic Association. 
  • EA esports Video game publisher EA said it’s suspending all live events for its competitive gaming series, which includes the Apex Legends Global Series, EA Sports FIFA 20 Global Series, FIFA Online 4 Live Events and Madden NFL 20 Championship Series. The suspension began March 13 and will continue “until the global coronavirus situation improves.” Online events in which participants and staff are isolated will continue, EA said.
  • Indianapolis 500 The event has been moved to Aug. 23. Meanwhile, the GMR Grand Prix was rescheduled for July 4.

Political events


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Cultural happenings and institutions

  • Burning Man The annual countercultural festival won’t happen this year in its usual locale, Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Instead it’ll be an online event, at Virtual Black Rock City 2020.
  • Peloton April live classes Peloton said it’s halting production at its New York and London studios through April 30.
  • Movie blockbusters A number of high-profile movies have seen their release dates pushed back, including Black Widow, A Quiet Place 2, Mulan and the next James Bond installment, No Time to Die.
  • Coachella The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has been pushed to October.
  • Glastonbury The UK’s legendary Glastonbury music festival, this year intended to feature Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Diana Ross, will no longer take place on June 24.
  • Met Ball On March 16, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour said this year’s Met Gala, slated to take place in May, has been postponed.
  • Tony Awards Postponed from June 7 to an undetermined date.
  • Peabody Awards The ceremony, previously scheduled for June 18, has been postponed. 
  • 47th annual Daytime Emmy Awards will not take place in June as scheduled, the National Academy of Television Arts &  Sciences said in a statement on March 19. 
  • Ultra Music Festival This Miami festival has been postponed until next year.

    The release of X-Men spin-off The New Mutants has now been delayed four times. 


    Twentieth Century Fox

  • Forthcoming films Many films and TV shows currently in production have shut down, including The Matrix 4 and several of Disney’s live action films.
  • WonderCon Anaheim On March 12, WonderCon Anaheim, slated to take place in April, was postponed.
  • Cannes The prestigious Cannes film festival, scheduled for May 12, was canned March 19.
  • Tribeca The Tribeca Film Festival, slated to take place in April, was postponed after New York banned events with 500 or more people.
  • SXSW Sprawling tech and entertainment festival South by Southwest, slated to take place in March, was one of the first to be canceled
  • Tallinn Music Week has been rescheduled for August.
  • Broadway Broadway theaters closed on March 12.
  • Eurovision Song Contest The famously flamboyant Eurovision Song Contest, due to take place in the Netherlands in May, has been canceled.
  • EDC and Beyond Wonderland SoCal The dance music festival Beyond Wonderland SoCal, which was scheduled to take place in March, was postponed until June. EDC Las Vegas has been moved from May to instead take place on Oct. 2-4.
  • Edinburgh festivals The world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, was canceled on April 1, along with the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. It’s the first time in over 70 years the Scottish capital won’t host the festivals in August.
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    Billie Eilish is one of the artists rescheduling a major tour.


    Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation

  • Billie Eilish As if it wasn’t enough that the Bond film for which she sang the theme tune is delayed, Billie Eilish is postponing her North American tour dates.
  • The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and chums were supposed to continue their world tour in North America, but the Rolling Stones have postponed their summer dates from San Diego to Atlanta.
  • Madonna canceled shows in France.
  • The Foo Fighters have pushed back their 25th anniversary tour.
  • Avril Lavigne has postponed plans for European shows.
  • Slipknot has canceled shows in Japan and across Asia.
  • My Chemical Romance was forced to pull out of long-awaited reunion shows.
  • Pearl Jam has canceled a North American tour.
  • Green Day was due to tour Asia.
  • Pixies have pulled shows in Australia.
  • Action Bronson has pulled shows.
  • Mariah Carey has moved a Hawaii concert from March to November.
  • Rage Against the Machine has canceled live dates with Run the Jewels.
  • The Who has canceled shows in the UK and Ireland.
  • Camila Cabello has postponed her Romance Tour of the US and Europe.
  • Talk shows A handful of late-night shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, have shifted to virtual interviews, with hosts broadcasting from their homes.
  • The Met The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York said on March 12 that it would temporarily close.
  • Washington Monument The National Park Service has closed the famous Washington Monument.
  • White House Easter Egg Roll The Office of the First Lady canceled this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll, which was slated to take place April 13. “The health and safety of all Americans must be the first priority, especially right now,” First Lady Melania Trump said in a statement.
  • iHeartRadio Music Awards The annual awards show, slated to take place March 29, was postponed to an unspecified date. 
  • The Jonas Brothers Their April 1 to 18 residency in Las Vegas had been canceled
  • Kelly Clarkson Another Vegas disappointment: Kelly Clarkson has postponed her Las Vegas residency from April 1 to July.
  • Mandy Moore An Instagram post from Mandy Moore revealed the postponement to her tour dates.
  • Alicia Keys The singer tweeted that her More Myself book tour and new album will be postponed, though the book will still be available on March 31. 
  • Little Big Town Shows for the band’s Nightfall Tour were rescheduled to later this year and early next year. 
  • Zac Brown Band The musical act canceled their 2020 tour dates
  • VidCon The annual online video tech conference, slated to take place in Anaheim in June, was canceled
  • Academy of Country Music Awards The event was moved from April 5 to Sept. 16.
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony The event, which was slated to air on HBO in May, was rescheduled for later this year.
  • Lady Gaga The singer took to Twitter to announce she’s postponing the release of her album Chromatica.
  • Comicpalooza The comic and pop culture convention in Texas was canceled
  • Garth Brooks The country singer postponed his performances in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Cincinnati, Ohio, to June. 
  • BTS The band is rescheduling its North American tour dates, after earlier canceling its April concert dates in Seoul.
  • Harry Styles The singer rescheduled his upcoming tour in the UK and Europe to 2021.
  • Governors Ball The NYC festival, slated for June, was canceled
  • Download Festival The UK rock festival won’t be taking place this year
  • QuakeCon The annual convention held by video game investor ZeniMax Media, which was slated to take place in August, was canceled. 
  • Pokemon World Championships All sanctioned competitive events are suspended, including the June 26-28 North American International Championships and the Aug. 14-16 Pokemon World Championship finals in London.
  • Women Tech Global Conference This year’s physical San Francisco event will be replaced with a virtual one connecting “women, minorities and their allies in tech.” It’ll take place June 10-12.

Theme parks

Tech industry events

Several prominent industry events were canceled or revamped because of concerns over the coronavirus. They include:

  • WWDC Apple said on March 13 that its Worldwide Developers Conference will be online only this year.
  • Microsoft Build Microsoft announced on March 12 it’s canceling its in-person Build 2020 developer event. The Build show will go on in a virtual way, officials said, in the same mid-May time slot that the regular conference was planned. In April, the company said it’ll make external and internal events digital-only through July 2021.
  • E3 The biggest gaming event of the year was scheduled to open June 9 in LA. Some exhibitors, including Microsoft and Ubisoft, will hold online events instead.
  • MWC Mobile World Congress, an annual industry gathering that had been scheduled to open on Feb. 24 in Barcelona, was an early casualty.
  • Detroit Auto Show The annual North American International Auto Show was nixed after the Federal Emergency Management Administration designated its host venue, the TCF Center, a coronavirus field hospital.
  • Facebook F8 Facebook’s March marketing summit and F8 developer conference were both called off.
  • Google I/O Android fans will miss out on Google I/O, the company’s biggest event of the year, where the tech giant announces its newest products and initiatives.
  • Geneva Motor Show The Geneva Motor Show, one of the largest car shows of the year, was hit after the Swiss government banned all events of 1,000 people or more.

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  • Adobe Summit The annual Adobe Summit in Las Vegas is off, although some content will be offered online.
  • Nvidia GTC The keynote and product announcements for Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, typically held in San Jose, California, and attracting about 10,000 people, was canceled on March 16. The company earlier announced plans to make the event online-only. Nvidia said it will continue to hold online training sessions starting March 25.
  • Snap Partner Summit The annual Snap Partner Summit focusing on messaging app Snapchat will be an online-only event, with a keynote scheduled for April 2.
  • GDC The annual Game Developers Conference, originally scheduled to take place March 16 to 20 in San Francisco, has been postponed to an unspecified date after exhibitors such as Amazon, Microsoft, Epic Games, Sony, EA and Facebook dropped out.
  • Google News Initiative Summit Alphabet Inc. canceled the Google News Initiative Summit scheduled for late April in Sunnyvale, California.
  • Google Next The annual Google cloud conference, which drew 30,000 attendees last year, has been postponed even after it was turned into a digital-only event.
  • re:MARS Amazon canceled the upcoming re:MARS conference in Las Vegas, which focuses on AI and robotics and was in its second year. All guests who purchased tickets will receive a full refund of registration fees.
  • Dell Technologies World Dell has reportedly told attendees of its 2020 tech conference that it’s been moved to “a virtual setting” due to coronavirus concerns. Keynotes and some sessions will be online, according to the note. Dell Technologies World had been scheduled to go from May 4-7 in Las Vegas. Dell didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
  • Photokina 2020 The biggest photography conference in the world, which had been slated to make its move from the fall to May 27-30 this year, was canceled by organizer Koelnmesse on March 18. It’s a biannual show, so that means we won’t see it again until 2022.
  • Bethesda digital showcase The Elder Scrolls developer opted not to highlight its upcoming games in June.
  • Techonomy East The New York conference, slated to take place May 19-20, has been postponed. There will instead be a free online conference on those days.

CNET’s Corinne Reichert, Ben Fox Rubin, Jackson Ryan, Shara Tibken, Lynn La, Sean Szymkowski, Dara Kerr, Queenie Wong, Oscar Gonzalez, Dan Ackerman, Stephen Shankland, Chris Paukert, Erin Carson, Edward Moyer, Sean Keane, Eli Blumenthal, Richard Trenholm, Lori Grunin, Nick Hide, Ian Sherr and Shelby Brown contributed to this report. 


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