The past week has seen hundreds of cultural and sporting events being either cancelled or postponed all over the world due to the ongoing Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic. And now Spain’s PrePartyES 2020 has joined the growing list.
Spain’s PrePartyES 2020 cancelled due to Coronavirus
Event organisers Eurovision-spain.com broke the news on Friday afternoon. In a brief post, the team confirmed that the Madrid concerts would no longer go ahead as planned on 10 and 11 April.
They add that the event will be cancelled for 2020 and should return again in 2021. However, if Eurovision itself is moved to a later date, the party may reschedule for a later date in 2020.
Details on ticket refunds will be released next week.
At the time of cancellation, 28 artists had confirmed for the two-night show — 17 from 2020 and 11 from previous years.
Coronavirus / COVID-19 in Spain
BBC reports that Spain is now the worst-affected European country after Italy. As of 19.00 CET on 13 March, there have been 120 fatalities. Total infections in the country number 4,231.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has declared that a state of alert will come into place there on Saturday for two weeks.
Many countries are now advising that all but essential travel to Spain be avoided.
Eurovision 2020 and Coronavirus
Earlier on Friday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that plans for Eurovision 2020 are continuing. In a statement, the organisation said that it is too early to make any final decisions regarding the contest.
There are currently two other dates on the Eurovision preview party calendar. The London Eurovision Party and Amsterdam’s Eurovision in Concert. Neither event has made any public comment on the pandemic. However, they would appear to be in jeopardy if the trend continues.
The Netherlands has imposed a ban on gatherings of over 100 people until 31 March — Eurovision in Concert is due to take place on 4 April in the 6,000 seater AFAS Live Arena.
Meanwhile, London Eurovision Party is set for 29 March. While the UK has not yet implemented nationwide bans on events and gatherings, all elite sporting fixures have been suspended. Scotland is advising that events of over 500 people should be cancelled.
For detailed information about the coronavirus/COVID-19 and how to stay healthy, please visit The World Health Organisation web site.
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I hope esc should be just postponed until june or july, idk, i just don’t want it cancelled-
Hope all this is gone by the main events in May.
We, spanish eurofans, are devastated by this cancellation, but it was the only possibility, in accordance with the dramatic situation we’re suffering all across Spain. I wish we could enjoy London and Amsterdam concerts online. And the following year we’ll have a better situation. Thank you very much to the equipment of Eurovision-spain.com for their great professionality and illusion one year more.
Shame, but it’s what’s safest. Even if we were looking forward to it safety comes first.
I cannot understand it. There are 7 billion people in the world and less more than 0.001% have problem with that…. People cant live their lives? Coronavirus is overhyped.
Hmmm, me thinks you are thinking quite selfishly there. Lots of people are going to die from this virus, wouldn’t you try and do all you can to save them?
Everything is fine as long as you don’t have this problem.
This is basically nightmare.
All these pre-parties are probably my favourite part of the year and now it’s all gone.
And what even to say about ESC, every single solution looks terrible to me, starting from no audience, recording it in their own studios or canceling it. I don’t know what’s worse.
I love that period of reherseals and interviews with singers and that will be gone too.
Right now, I hope that they’ll postpone it for August/September. I know it’s complicated from many point of views but it’s the best.
Shame. The best pre-party.