Luck Reunion 2020 Canceled Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
Luck Reunion, the annual festival held at Willie Nelson's Luck, Texas, ranch during SXSW, has been canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The news arrived on Thursday (March 12), one in a slew of cancellations and postponements due to the global issue.
“Turn out the lights. The party’s over. We’re lucked if we don’t … for now," a statement posted on the Luck Reunion social media account reads. "We are devastated to announce that today we were notified by Travis County, [Texas], officials that Luck Reunion 2020 must be rescheduled. We agree with the decision and stand with the county in taking all precautions to protect your health and safety first."
Luck Reunion 2020 was sold out and featured a lineup that included Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Margo Price, Amanda Shires, Lucinda Williams, Orville Peck, Colter Wall and more. Organizers go on to say that they plan on "introducing additional programming" and are currently deciding the best way to proceed.
Those who purchased tickets for the 2020 Luck Reunion will have them "automatically transferred" to apply to entry to next year's event. Those looking for more details can email support@amplitix.com.
“This is a blow to our business, workers, community of artists, sponsors, and most all you, our loyal friends and fans," the statement continues. "We will pick up the pieces together and continue to support local businesses in our shared commitment to good music and art.”
On Tuesday (March 10), Luck Reunion organizers had announced their plans to continue with the event, despite the cancellation of Austin's annual SXSW event, during which Luck Reunion takes place. However, on Wednesday (March 11), The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared coronavirus a pandemic, and an increase in cases of the virus across the country has caused a massive movement to pause large-scale events in the weeks and months ahead.
There are more than 128,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the globe, including more than 4,700 deaths, as of Thursday evening. The number of cases within the United States has been increasing, with 1,663 cases and 40 deaths confirmed.
Following President Donald Trump's March 11 address to the nation, which included a decision to ban foreign nationals traveling to the United States from Europe beginning Friday (March 13), hundreds of tour dates were canceled or rescheduled by country artists in an effort to help control the spread of the disease. Live Nation and AEG are among the organizations that announced they would be recommending all large-scale events through the month of March be postponed.
Chris Stapleton, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Reba McEntire and Jason Aldean are just a few of the artists who have moved tour dates due to the pandemic. California's Stagecoach Festival and the 2020 C2C: Country to Country Festival have also been postponed.
Coronavirus Pandemic: What Country Music Events Are Postponed or Canceled (or Not)?