COVID-19 Claims Another Music Festival, Austin City Limits Canceled As Texas Cases Surge
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — In the past it brought performers like Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Los Lobos, Sheryl Crow, Elivis Costello, Childish Gambino, Cardi B, Billie Eilish and Guns N' Roses to Texas -- but that won't be the case this year.
The Austin City Limits Music Festival has been canceled because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Festival organizers said in a statement Wednesday that scrapping the three-day October event was "the only responsible solution." The announcement comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas, with the state reporting another daily high Tuesday of 7,000 new confirmed cases and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott urging people to stay home.
The Coachella music festival in California and Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee have also been scraped this year.
The cancellation is another big loss for Austin's tourism economy. The city's South By Southwest festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, was canceled in March as the virus first began to spread in Texas.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)