AUSTIN, Texas — Even before this city, the state capital of Texas, reported its first cases of the coronavirus on Friday, it had been pummeled by the virus outbreak.
Financial losses from the sudden cancellation of South by Southwest, the pop culture mega event that helped establish Austin’s funky hipster identity and had been scheduled to open on Friday, were anticipated to be enormous.
“Just to put it in perspective — if I was a big-box store, this is shutting down Christmas,” said Chris Warndahl, the general manager of Miller Pro AVL, an event lighting, sound and video company in Austin that may have to let go some employees after losing about 35 percent of its annual income.
The festival was ordered canceled last week, and by Friday, the first cases were announced — among them, the wife of the president of the University of Texas at Austin, the flagship state university whose burnt orange color and longhorn logo can be seen across town.
“It is difficult for me to write this because the person who tested positive is my wife Carmel,” the university’s president, Gregory L. Fenves, wrote in a letter on Friday, announcing that he, his wife and another family member were in self-isolation.
The university canceled classes on Friday, and with almost 50 cases statewide Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster across Texas.
Yet even before the latest developments, Austin had gone into disaster-recovery mode with the cancellation of South by Southwest.
At the Hotel Van Zandt downtown, the room cancellations could mean $1.2 million lost. A custom T-shirt producer, Oh Boy! Print Shop, expects a $40,000 hit. And the head bartender at Antone’s, a nightclub that helped start the careers of Stevie Ray Vaughan and other Texas musicians, says up to $4,000 in tips will vanish.
“We’ve just gone from what is usually the busiest 10 days of the year to what is sort of this unknown,” said Will Bridges, the co-owner of Antone’s, which had been poised to host more than three dozen bands as an official music venue for the festival.
“South By,” as Austin residents call it, has become a 10-day economic powerhouse, its effect on the local economy akin to hosting a Super Bowl, reaching $356 million last year, according to an analysis by a consulting firm, Greyhill Advisors. Nearly half a million people from around the world were expected to come, filling 55,000 room nights at hotels.
But last week, before a single case of the virus had been reported in the city, the mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, announced a local state of emergency as the coronavirus emerged in the United States. His disaster declaration effectively canceled South by Southwest for the first time since the festival was founded in 1987.
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A nonprofit foundation created the Stand With Austin Fund, where residents can donate money to those negatively affected. Festival organizers said they took the “necessary but heartbreaking step” of laying off about a third of their full-time staff. The mayor and other officials have encouraged residents to go out and spend money at local businesses, and musicians have signaled a willingness to play for free or at reduced rates to keep the venues packed for bartenders and waiters. Harold Cook, a former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, came up with #TipForTwo — double tipping to help the service industry.
“In some respects, we need to look at this as if a tornado came through our city,” Mr. Adler said. “There’s the cumulative number, the $350 million number, but behind that number are many, many individual stories of hardship.”
In the days after the announcement, downtown Austin has been anything but empty, even after city officials on Monday banned most mass gatherings until May. There was a sense of defiance — and purpose — of supporting local businesses and workers.
On Sixth Street, an eclectic stretch of nightclubs, bars, tattoo shops and billiard parlors, the weekend crowds were thick and the celebratory atmosphere remained. Stubb’s Bar-B-Q was packed for a concert by Trippie Redd, the rapper-singer, and a man strolled down the street with two chickens, one on his shoulder and another on his head.
South by Southwest volunteers gathered at the Dirty Dog Bar as part of a planned show of solidarity for those hurt by the cancellation. The list of those affected went on and on: nightclub owners, bartenders, pedicab drivers, dishwashers, tattoo artists, musicians, parking-lot operators.
“I think we’re just going to try to hit as many places as we can and try to share the love for all of our service industries,” said Tami Richter, the festival’s director of event staffing and resources.
Austin is by no means alone in coping with cancellations — or uncertainty. Around the country, St. Patrick’s Day parades have been postponed. Universities have emptied or called off in-person classes. Conferences and business meetings have been halted, as have concerts, music festivals and shows.
And yet, different cities have responded in different ways, adding to the frustration and confusion.
About 165 miles southeast of Austin, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of Texas’ biggest annual events, was open for business last week even as the South by Southwest cancellation was announced. On Wednesday, though, that was ordered closed, too, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Houston region climbed.
For South by Southwest, the pressure mounted for days before Mr. Adler, along with Travis County officials, canceled it. Facebook, Twitter and other companies backed out of attending. Mr. Adler, a 63-year-old lawyer and Democrat who has been mayor for more than five years, described his decision as agonizing. He was forced to weigh the city’s economic anchor against health care officials’ warnings about how the virus may spread, especially in large groups of people who have gathered from all over.
“The focus had to be on keeping the community safe,” Mr. Adler said. On Friday morning, on what was to have been the first day of the festival, officials announced that two people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the area.
In the days before that, before any cases were found, some people had questioned the festival’s cancellation. Rob Hicks, general manager of the Dirty Dog, said the festival should not have been halted. “To shut the whole city and declare an emergency?” he said.
Mike Rawlings, the former mayor of Dallas who helped guide that city through an Ebola crisis in 2014, said the decision by Mr. Adler and other officials took leadership.
“I think it was the smart thing to do,” Mr. Rawlings said. “I know it wasn’t something he wanted to do. When I was focused on Ebola — and it’s a very different situation — I wasn’t worried so much about the economics. It’s a factor, because it’s there and you discuss it. But if it’s at all a close call, you got to go with safety.”
For the musicians in Austin, which bills itself as the live music capital of the world, the decision has hit hard.
A nonprofit group, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, provides health insurance for low-income musicians, many of whom make less than $18,000 annually. After the festival was canceled, the group called off a fund-raiser next week that was expected to bring in up to $250,000 and would feature performances by the western swing band Asleep at the Wheel and others. The event has been rescheduled for a smaller venue, and is anticipated to bring in a smaller fund-raising total.
Reenie Collins, the chief executive of the health alliance, said, “We’ll take a hit, of course, just like everybody else in Austin will.”
David Montgomery reported from Austin and Manny Fernandez from Houston. Sarah Mervosh contributed reporting from New York.
Source: Music - nytimes.com
