As COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, has spread around the world and throughout the country, events that rely on large social gatherings are being cancelled in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease. In South Florida alone, dozens of major events have been cancelled over the past few days out of caution and in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus through “social distancing.” Below, find a list of events in the area that have been affected.
The City of Boca Raton released a statement on March 12 announcing the postponement or cancellation of all planned special events, performances, programs, classes, athletics, clinics, rentals, and camps through April 30th, 2020. For more details and information on specific events, see here : https://myboca.us/CivicAlerts
- The Delray Beach St. Patrick’s Day Festival, which was scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 14, has been cancelled.
- In addition, Palm Beach Shores and Lake Worth Beach have also called off their St. Patrick’s Day parades, which were set to take place this weekend.
- Old School Square in Delray Beach will close until March 31, and plans to reschedule all programming set to take place during that time period.
- The 6th Annual Blarney Bash in Boynton Beach, which was set to take place this Saturday, March 14, has ben cancelled.
- The 65th Annual Bethesda Ball, which was to be held this Saturday, March 14 at The Breakers, has been cancelled.
- The Women of Tomorrow Gala at the Mandarin Oriental, which was scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 14, has been cancelled.
- The Royal Palm Beach Seafood Festival, which was scheduled to take place this weekend, March 14-15, has been postponed with no new dates announced.
- The First Home Game for Inter-Miami, South Florida’s new professional soccer club, was set to take place this Sunday, March 15, in Fort Lauderdale. It has been cancelled.
- The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County has cancelled a number of different events, which include:
- Women’s Philanthropy Lions on the Loose, set to take place on March 12
- Breakfast Networking Series, scheduled for March 13
- Super Sunday fundraiser and PJ Library Family Mitzvah Project, set to take place on March 15
- King David Society Evening with Astrith Baltsan, scheduled for March 16.
- The Palm Beach Book Festival, which was set to take place on March 20 and 21 at Florida Atlantic University, has been cancelled.
- The All People’s Day Diversity Festival, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 21 at Pompey Park in Delray Beach, has been cancelled.
- Savor the Avenue 2020, scheduled for March 23 on Atlantic Avenue, has been postponed, and organizers are working to set a new date.
- Ultra Music Festival, the signature EDM music festival that takes place in Miami and was scheduled for March 20-22, has been indefinitely postponed.
- The Palm Beach International Boat Show, which was scheduled to take place March 26-29 on the West Palm Beach Waterfront, has been “postponed until further notice,” with no new dates set as of now.
- The National Basketball Association has suspended its season, and all games have been indefinitely postponed. This includes all remaining home Miami Heat games.
- The National Hockey League has suspended play until further notice, which has caused all remaining scheduled Florida Panthers home games to be indefinitely postponed.
- Major League Baseball has cancelled its Spring Training, and the start of the 2020 season has been pushed back at least two weeks. This will affect the Miami Marlins and any other teams that play spring training games in the region.
- The 2nd Annual Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival, which was set to take place this month, has been rescheduled to August 5-9, 2020.
- All Live Nation and AEG concerts through at least the end of March have been called off. Both concert promoters will be working to reschedule dates as is possible. This impacts many upcoming shows in South Florida, including concerts at the Fillmore Miami Beach, American Airlines Arena, Revolution Live, iThink Financial Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, and more.
- The Kravis Center in West Palm Beach is suspending all operations through March 30. The suspension will affect performances by Josh Groban, Miami City Ballet, the New World Symphony, and more. Ticket holders for cancelled shows will receive refunds.
- The 58th Annual Delray Affair, scheduled for April 3,4, & 5, has been cancelled
- The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach have cancelled public programs through April 30.
- The South Florida Science Center & Aquarium has postponed all events scheduled to take place in March.
- SunFest in West Palm Beach, which was set to take place April 30- May 3 and feature acts including Darius Rucker and Cage the Elephant, has cancelled its 2020 festival. https://www.sunfest.com/blog/sunfest-2020-cancelation
- The Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale has suspended all programming indefinitely.
- The Boca West Children’s Foundation has delayed its $100,000 Golf Challenge until November . The event was originally supposed to take place on March 30.
This list will be updated regularly as more information becomes available.
For information on COVID-19, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
