Winter Music Conference (Miami Music Week) Events Cancelled
Miami’s annual dance music conference, WMC (Winter Music Conference), has decided to officially cancel their event, according to organizers.
“Due to the Florida Governor’s declaration of a public health emergency and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Interim Guidance for COVID-19, the 35th edition of Winter Music Conference, originally scheduled for March 16 – 19, 2020, will be rescheduled,” organizers said in a statement today (March 9) on the WMC website.
“After spending the past ten months preparing for the event with our team, panelists and event partners, we are profoundly disappointed, however, there is nothing more important than the health, safety and physical well-being of our attendees and employees,” the statement added.
The cancelation of the event, which was set to take place next week, had been expected by many, especially after Ultra Music Conference, which is held (nearly) concurrently in Miami, was canceled last week. And while Winter Music Conference is a much smaller conference than other music related confabs, such as the just-canceled SXSW, event organizers likely wanted to err on the side of caution in light of the current uncertainties as to how the COVID-19 virus spreads.
And while both Ultra and WMC are now both officially off this month, all is not totally lost for those dance music fans still headed to Florida, as Miami Music Week will still take place in South Beach and surrounding areas, according to the Miami New Times, which reports that “the only party that has announced a cancelation is Damian Lazarus’ ‘Get Lost’ event.”
Roughly 170,000 people were set to attend Ultra Music Festival 2020, which was scheduled for March 20 to 22 at Bayfront Park in Miami.
Other Miami Music Week cancellations:
Get Lost. Damian Lazarus’ 24-hour Miami Music Week event has been postponed. The party was set to take place Saturday, March 21, in Hialeah; however, that city and the county have banned all large gatherings.
Kimpton Epic Hotel. On Friday, March 13, the South Beach hotel announced its extensive Miami Music Week programming — including the All Gone Pete Tong Pool Party — has been canceled per local, federal, and international guidelines as well as “an abundance of caution.” According to a statement, any pre-purchased tickets or packages will be refunded.
LIV Nightclub. LIV, David Grutman’s nightclub at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, announced that it has temporarily paused all operations out of an abundance of caution and that any prepurchased tickets will be refunded.
American Airlines Arena. According to Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s order, all large events at the American Airlines Arena are to be suspended. The arena announced on Thursday, March 12, the following concerts are postponed: Aventura (March 12), Cher (March 24), and Ricardo Montaner (March 29). Tickets will be honored on the rescheduled dates.
Club Space. Club Space coowner Coloma Kaboomsky shared a letter on Facebook late Thursday, March 12, announcing that all of the downtown Miami venue’s events have been postponed to a later date. On Friday, the announcement was shared widely on all of the club’s various event pages. Space will reportedly host a series of live streams from its DJ booths online in addition to organizing a canned drive “to help the less fortunate members of our community.”
Ultra Music Festival. On Friday, March 6, organizers announced the city had pulled the permit for the festival owing to concerns over the coronavirus. Scheduled to talk place Friday, March 20, through Sunday, March 22, the festival announced it would not issue refunds but allow people who had purchased tickets to use them at a later date.
