It really shocked me today when I found out they cancelled South By Southwest in Austin this year. Until I discovered that the people behind South By Southwest didn't cancel the festival - the city of Austin did. Read more here.
Which makes sense - South By Southwest (SXSW) makes millions of dollars for Austin, why in the world would any capitalist enterprise cancel any event for health reasons? This is not to say it won't be without consequences - local businesses, especially local venues, will suffer the most. They usually operated with such a slim profit margin, a music festival might float them for the rest of the year. I have read reports about venues which have ordered lots of beer for the festival - which was to begin next week - who cannot return the order if there are not thousands descending on Austin for the week.
At the moment, I don't think I'm nervous about going to see shows - there are a few in March here in Portland I might want to see - but if this keeps happening, what will our future concert calendars look like? Will the folks who bought wristbands & badges for SXSW be reimbursed for their purchase? Will the folks who booked flights to Austin (& reserved hotel rooms) back out, or come anyway? I had read that some bands cancelled their SXSW showcases - what about the bands that didn't?
Now, I know I don't live in Austin anymore, & none of this matters to me in the abstract (I most probably won't visit Austin ever again). But I feel a strange kinship to the folks who live at the edges of the monstrosity that the South By Southwest music festival has become.
Mostly I want everyone to be safe. Is this something that will become more awful with time? If so, good! Cancel the music festivals! If not - well, let's be glad we were safe. All the people I know in Austin will be safe. That's good enough for me.
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