Community spread of the Covid-19 virus in Florida has led to scores of event cancellations, including many that were anchors of the tourism season throughout the state. In most cases, organizers hold out little or no hope that the events will be rescheduled until next year.
Big music festivals with closely packed crowds, such as Miami's Ultra electronic music jam on March 20, were among the first events to be axed. Big international sports events such as the Miami Open Tennis tournament are also gone until next year.
In Ponte Vedra Beach, the $15 million TPC Sawgrass golf championship was canceled on March 12, one day into the event. Also canceled, halfway through its run, was the 10-day Miami International Film Festival.
In Central Florida, among the canceled events is the popular Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, scheduled March 20 to 22. A slew of events at the major theme parks, such as the Mardi Gras festivities at Universal Orlando, were also called off when the parks were closed.
Some of the canceled events had major charity components, such as Miami's annual Calle Ocho street festival, which is a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana.
In the Florida Keys, the 7 Mile Bridge Run scheduled for March 28 has been postponed until next year. Participants this year will be guaranteed an option for entry into the 2021 race, which is tentatively set for April 17, 2021.
Organizers of many events say it was too complicated to try to reschedule them. Typical was the statement from the SunFest Music Festival, the biggest annual tourist draw in West Palm Beach, which was scheduled April 30 to May 3.
"Unfortunately, postponing until later this year was not a viable option given a number of factors, including site availability, artists scheduling and hurricane season," the statement said.
In North Florida, the CEO of the Leesburg Partnership, Joe Shipes, told the Leesburg Daily Commercial that the city's three-day BikeFest scheduled for April 23 to 26 could not be rescheduled. "We wouldn't reschedule it into the summer because of the heat, but then you run into hurricane season," Shipes said of the event billed as the world's largest three-day motorcycle festival.
"That would have pushed us well into the fall, which is November. And that's already extremely booked," Shipes said.
A few smaller events have set new dates or given a general timeframe for rescheduling. The 9th annual Ford International Cuban Sandwich Festival in Ybor City that had been slated for March 29 has been rescheduled to Sunday, May 31. About 20,000 are expected to attend.
And organizers of the two-day UNwineD craft beer and wine festival originally set for March 20 and 21 in Panama City Beach said they have hopes of rescheduling this fall.