The 2020 Tribeca Film Festival Is The Latest Event To Be Postponed Due To The Coronavirus
The day has been full of news about events being canceled or postponed due to fears of the coronavirus (AKA COVID-19), and there doesn't seem to be any sign of that stopping anytime soon. The latest event to fall victim to virus fears is the Tribeca Film Festival, which was due to kick-off on April 15. Now the fest is being postponed to a later date.
The Tribeca Film Festival was gearing up to run from April 15 through April 26. But then the coronavirus came to town. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo recently banned events of 500 people or more due to fears of the virus, and Tribeca has taken that as a cue to postpone the fest. Here's the statement they just released:
We founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to heal our community after the devastation of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. We were determined to overcome our fear and anxiety by joining together. It is in our DNA to march forward while caring about our community
We have made the difficult decision to postpone the 19th Tribeca Film Festival (April 15-26) based on the announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that events of 500 people or more are banned due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of the public while also supporting our friends, filmmakers and storytellers who look to Tribeca as a platform to showcase their work to audiences. We will be back to you shortly with our plans.
Please check www.tribecafilm.com for the latest updates, ticket refund information and details about how we are moving forward.
The news of Tribeca's postponement comes following a wave of announcements for canceled or delayed events and movie releases. Today alone we've learned: Broadway is shutting down until April, as is Disneyland; the release dates for A Quiet Place II, F9, and The Lovebirds have all been delayed; Major League Baseball is delaying opening day by two weeks; the NHL has suspended 2019-2020 season; March Madness has been canceled...and that's just for starters. What comes next? More cancelations, I'd imagine.
The Cannes Film Festival, currently scheduled for May, has yet to be canceled, but it seems all but inevitable that it will be at this point. San Diego Comic-Con has yet to cancel its dates either, and Comic-Con says they're "keeping an eye on the situation." One has to wonder how much longer this will go on. Will the cancelations and postponements continue throughout the rest of the year? Will the New York Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest, all currently scheduled for September, have to change their dates as well? We're in uncharted waters here, and we're just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out.