Saturday, August 21, 2021

Covid-related cancellations pick up as delta variant spreads


Here we go again with cancellations because of the lingering Covid-19 pandemic. Music acts are canceling their concert tours. Conferences are canceling in-person events. And theatrical movies are being postponed or switched to streaming services.
Almost daily now, music performers are scrapping their tours. Just this week, K-pop group BTS, country star Garth Brooks, country duo Florida Georgia Line and industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails canceled their fall tours. They followed recent tour cancellations by singer Stevie Nicks and rock band Limp Bizkit.
Billboard is keeping a running list of cancellations. (See “Every 2021 Concert & Festival Canceled Due to Covid-19.”)
Other live events recently canceled include the VidCon and BravoCon conventions.
VidCon, which brings together online creators and fans, canceled its in-person conference for the second year in a row. This year’s show had been slated for Oct. 22-24 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The Bravo television network also canceled its in-person event. BravoCon had been scheduled for Oct. 15-17 in New York City.
Also, a bunch of movies that had been set for release this fall have been delayed because of Covid. They include “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” (See the USA Today article “Covid is delaying concerts and movies, again.”)
And Sony is rumored to be skipping a theatrical run for “Hotel Transylvania 4” and selling the streaming rights to Amazon Prime Video.
I’m sure these won’t be the last Covid cancellations and delays. Things were supposed to have returned to normal by now, but many people refuse to get vaccinated, despite the more contagious delta variant.

Photo: Washington-Lee High School track in Arlington, Va., closed during Covid-19 outbreak in April 2020. (Photo by dmbosstone via Creative Commons)

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