Note from founder Ashley Capps indicates refunds will be available

Amid a growing response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that today was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, organizers have canceled the upcoming Big Ears Festival. The 2020 fest was set to bring a phenomenal array of musicians, including minimalist composer Terry Riley, avant-garde jazz composer Anthony Braxton, poet and rock icon Patti Smith and more, to Knoxville from March 26-29. 

Ashley Capps, founder of the festival as well as the booking and promotions firm AC Entertainment (which co-founded Bonnaroo), announced the news in a note that appears on the Big Ears website. As recently as Monday, the fest was planning to continue as scheduled. But, as Capps writes: “With events surrounding COVID-19 developing rapidly along with the obvious need for urgent steps to contain its spread, we simply cannot move forward with the festival as scheduled.” There is a possibility that the festival will reschedule for another date this year, but there’s no information about that yet.

The note also indicates that refunds will be made available, at least for tickets purchased via the festival’s authorized vendor. The festival became a federally recognized nonprofit organization in 2016, and there will be an option to convert ticket purchases into tax-deductible donations. Ticket buyers will be contacted via email.

There have been a slew of U.S. music festivals canceled or postponed in the past week. Nashville songwriter fest Tin Pan South has been postponed until a date TBA, electronic music festival Ultra in Miami is canceled, SXSW in Austin, Texas, is canceled, and Indio, Calif.’s Coachella and Stagecoach have been postponed until October.