Coronavirus: France's Tomorrowland Music Festival Canceled

The winter edition of the electronic dance music festival, set to run March 14-21, has been called off following new restrictions by the French government aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Tomorrowland in France will have to wait until after the coronavirus crisis.

Organizers of the electronic dance music festival announced Thursday that they have canceled the 2020 winter edition of Tomorrowland due to health concerns connected with the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

Tomorrowland Winter 2020 was set to run March 14-21 at the French alpine ski resort of Alpe d’Huez Grand Domaine Ski. But new regulations introduced by the French government have banned all indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people, as part of efforts to contain the country's coronavirus outbreak.

“Today, it is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that the French government has decided to cancel this year’s edition,” Tomorrowland organizers announced on the festival's website Thursday. “Since Saturday we were in close contact with the French government about the impact of the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) and we finally received their official decision. The French government is taking drastic measures regarding the COVID-19 virus in France. Therefore they are enforcing the cancellation of large events, bringing together people from different nationalities on closed festival grounds and event locations.”

Organizers said they would be contacting all festival visitors personally via email. It is unclear if and how those who have booked tickets will be compensated. EDM acts such as Armin van Buuren, Afrojack and Steve Aoki were set to perform at the Tomorrowland Winter festival.

This is only the latest French event to be shut down by the coronavirus. On Wednesday, international television market MipTV, set to kick off at the end of the month, was canceled, citing the new government regulations. France has also closed down schools in particularly hard-hit areas of the country and dozens of concerts, and cultural and sporting events have been cancelled or postponed France-wide due to the outbreak.

The next edition of Tomorrowland, set for July 17-19 and July 24-26 in the Belgium town of Boom, is still scheduled to go ahead as planned.

As of March 4, there have been 285 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in France and four deaths, making it the worst-hit country in Europe after Italy. According to the World Health Organization, more than 93,000 people worldwide have been confirmed infected by the coronavirus and more than 3,000 people have died from the illness.