The ranks of South by Southwest 2020 continue to thin out in response to the spread of coronavirus, with Amazon now the latest big name to pull out of the Austin-based festival.
An Amazon representative tells TheWrap that the company will not be attending the festival. Some of Amazon’s planned events included screenings of science fiction shows “Upload” and “Tales From the Loop.” Also canceled are a marketing activation in partnership with Entertainment Weekly, and Amazon’s big SXSW party set for March 14.
Entertainment Weekly alerted press to the situation in an email Tuesday night. “Due to health concerns, Amazon Prime Video has decided to pull back from the festival and will be cancelling all activities including the Blue Room Photo/Video Studio over the weekend and the Entertainment Weekly party on Sat evening. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. The health of our team members and guests is our priority,” the statement read, according to Deadline.
SXSW 2020 has seen a wave of cancellations from major tech and entertainment industry players, including Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. For now however, the ten-day movie, music and tech festival and keynote event is still set to proceed as planned, kicking off March 13 and ending March 20.
As of Wednesday morning, 129 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the U.S., and nine people have died from the disease domestically, according to the New York Times. Those account for over 94,000 cases worldwide with 3,221 deaths.
Deadline first reported the news.