The show must go on

25 March 2020 By Ed Cropley Follow @edwardcropley

Even in its early stages, Covid-19 closed gatherings from Coachella to conflabs on the virus itself. Stopgap online substitutes only underscore the value of face-to-face contact. That means the $30 bln industry should eventually recover, but with a slimmed-down list of operators.

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Britain is converting the giant ExCel exhibition centre in London’s East End into a 500-bed emergency hospital, its health minister said on March 24.

New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the west side of Manhattan will become a 1,000-bed medical station for non-Covid 19 cases. “This was never an anticipated use, but you do what you have to do,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “That's the New York way.”

Informa, the world’s largest exhibitions group, said on March 10 it had delayed or cancelled 128 events worth an estimated 425 million pounds ($554 million) in revenue because of the coronavirus. The company also held off from giving financial guidance for 2020.

The Coachella music festival in the Southern California desert has been postponed for six months until October because of concerns over the coronavirus, organiser Goldenvoice said on March 10.

The festival, one of the biggest in the world, brings half a million fans to an open-air site in Indio, east of Los Angeles, over two weekends. It had been due to take place on April 10-12 and April 17-19.

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