The Essence Festival of Culture announced it would cancel for 2020 after New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell recommended a broad ban on events that normally take place in the city for the rest of the year.
While speaking to media at City Hall on Tuesday, Cantrell recommended Essence, the NOLA Jazz and Heritage Festival and other events that were originally postponed cancel their 2020 iterations altogether to prevent another COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, NOLA.com reported.
“My opinion is all of that should be pushed back, period,” Cantrell said. “Absolutely no large events as it relates to the year of 2020.”
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In an announcement on its website, Essence Festival organizers said they fully supported Cantrell’s decision and would refund all tickets sold. They will offer those who would have been festival-goers an alternative.
“We are excited to announce that our new ESSENCE Studios streaming platform will host the first-ever ESSENCE Festival of Culture: The Virtual Edition over July 4th weekend as a multi-day experience and benefit celebration,” the announcement said.
The move to cancel the festival until next year was also suggested by Essence’s followers on Twitter when they originally postponed it.
New Orleans’ death toll has topped 1,000 and is one of the hot spots for the virus. There has also been speculation by experts that the coronavirus may have been spread unknowingly during Mardi Gras in February.
Unlike Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, Cantrell prioritized preserving life over the city’s economy. Since New Orleans is a major tourist destination, its economy is sure to take a major hit if all events are cancelled.
Cantrell said despite a slight slow in coronavirus cases in the past few days, the city shouldn’t take that as a sign to stop social distancing and other efforts to flatten he curve of the virus.
“This is the time that we really need to double down and strengthen our efforts, and understand that everyone plays a part in this,” Cantrell said.
The press conference came just one week after Cantrell appeared on ABC’s popular morning talk show “The View” to speak about how she was handling the outbreak in her city.
Though Cantrell has not made it an executive order, she has been in talks with festival organizers according to her staff.
If enacted, the order will leave organizers of major events pondering how to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Romig is the Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Co. He said the industry would abide by the advice of the city’s health experts and public officials.
“We all know how important our festivals are to our economy and, most importantly, we know that must follow the guidelines that federal, state and city health experts and leadership recommend to safeguard our health,” Romig said. “We will get back to hosting festivals just as soon as it is prudent to do so.”
