Coronavirus: arts festivals fear it may be curtains

Concert promoters, cinemas, festivals and organisers of other popular events are closely watching advice from health authorities.

Concert promoters, cinemas, festivals and organisers of other popular events are closely watching advice from health authorities as the entertainment world prepares for a potential lockdown due to coronavirus fears.

After Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were hospitalised at the Gold Coast after testing positive for COVID-19, and US rock band Pixies postponed its Australian concerts mid-tour, other artists and organisers are keeping to plan, for now.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Writers’ Festival, events that attract thousands of people in late March and April, respectively, are pressing ahead with their programs.

“At this juncture there is no instruction from any government authority to cancel performances, cancel group activities, cease rehearsals, close workplaces or close performance venues,” said MICF director Susan Provan. “This may change, and if so, we are preparing ourselves for any situations, should we need to cancel events or refund/reschedule events for our patrons.”

While David Walsh on Wednesday cancelled June’s Dark Mofo midwinter arts festival in Hobart, fearing potential losses of $8 million, to date there have been few high-profile cancellations.

US rock band Pixies announced on Thursday it was postponing five remaining concerts of its Australian tour, having already performed at Golden Plains festival in Victoria and in Melbourne earlier this week.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but the wellbeing of our fans is always our top priority,” said the band in a statement, adding that new dates will be announced for concerts in Brisbane, Sydney and Fremantle.

Local concert promoters are said to be concerned about the potential impact of COVID-19 on tour schedules, while international artists and management weigh up the risks of travelling to Australia, given potential travel restrictions or closed borders.

Several major music events are scheduled to take place in coming days, including the metal and rock-centric Download Festival in Melbourne on Friday and in Sydney on Saturday.

Hanks’s illness has pushed back preproduction on Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis, and film distributors have postponed some highly anticipated new releases. The Bond movie No Time to Die has been pushed back from April to November, and family feature Peter Rabbit 2 has been moved from April to an Australian release date in September.

Local cinema revenue, an indication of attendances, has softened in recent weeks, although it was not known whether this is due to coronavirus fears.

Weekly box office for the top 20 films was just under $12.8m three weeks ago but had dipped to $10.5m for the week ending March 11, according to the Motion Picture Distributors’ Association of Australia.

“I know everyone is monitoring (the coronavirus) incredibly closely and treating it with the utmost seriousness, both for the safety of the patrons who attend cinemas, and from a business point of view,” said MPDAA managing director Lori Flek.