COVID-19 Event Cancellations

The current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic is having a significant impact on the international music industry. Travel bans, limits on large public gatherings and the cancellation of events are just some of the disruptive but necessary measures in place to limit the spread of the disease. 

The Government of Canada and public health officials are now urging Canadians to stay home unless it is absolutely essential to go outside and practice social distancing. The Federal Government has announced that it will be closing its borders to most foreign travelers, Canadian citizens and permanent residents excluded, to limit the spread of COVID-19. The Canadian and United States border will also remain temporarily closed to non-essential travel. 

Were you planning on attending any upcoming showcase festivals or conferences in the coming months? Below you’ll find the most up to date information on a number of these events. 

*Note that any events indicated with an asterisk are events that CIMA undertakes. 


*SXSW (Austin, Texas)sxsw.com

Original Dates – March 16 – 22, 2020 

Status – CANCELLED 

Passes will be valid for 2021 Festival


MUSEXPO (Burbank, CA)musexpo.net/musexpoLA20/

Original Dates – March 22 – 25 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – TBA (Passes will be valid)


*Tallinn Music Week (Tallinn, Estonia) https://tmw.ee/

Original Dates – March 26 – 29 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – 26-30 August 2020 (Passes will be valid)


Canadian Folk Music Awards (Charlottetown, PEI) – https://folkawards.ca/

Original Dates – 3-4 April 2020 

Status – MOVED ONLINE 

The CFMA’s will stream exclusively online on Saturday, April 4 at 7PM EDT


Westway LAB (Guimaraes, Portugal)westwaylabfestival.com
Original Dates – 15 – 18 April 2020 

Status – POSTPONED

New Dates: 14-17 October 2020


*JAZZAHEAD! (Bremen, Germany) jazzahead.de/en/

Original Dates – 23 – 26 April 2020 

Status – CANCELLED 

Passes will be valid for 2021 Festival. Canada will remain the Partner Country.


*ECMA (St Johns, NL, CANADA)ecma.com

Original Dates – 30 April – 3 May 2020 

Status – CANCELLED


Liverpool Sound City (Liverpool, UK)soundcity.uk.com

Original Dates – 1 – 3 May 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – September 25 – 27 2020


Nashville Music Biz (Nashville, USA)musicbiz.org

Original Dates – 11 – 14 May 2020 

Status – TBC As of March 18th, the event is going ahead as planned


Focus Wales (Wrexham, Wales) focuswales.com

Original Dates – May 7 – 9 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – October 7 – 10 2020


*The Great Escape (Brighton, UK)greatescapefestival.com

Original Dates – May 13 – 16 2020 

StatusCANCELLED

Passes will be valid for 2021 edition


Classical:NEXT (Rotterdam, Netherlands)classicalnext.com

Original Dates – May 18 – 21 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – TBA (Passes will be valid)


*Canadian Music Week (Toronto, Canada) cmw.net

Original Dates – May 18 – 23 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – TBA 2021


*FIMPRO (Guadalajara, Mexico)  – fimguadalajara.mx

Original Dates – 27 – 30 May 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – TBA September 2020


CMAOntario Festival & Awards (London, ON)  – https://cmaontario.ca/

Original Dates – 28-31 May 2020 

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – 1-4 October 2020


New Skool Rules (Rotterdam, Amsterdam)   – newskoolrules.com/

Original Dates – 29 – 31st May, 2020 

Status – POSTPONED  

New Dates – 30 Oct – 1 Nov, 2020


MIDEM (Cannes, France) midem.com

Original Dates – 2 – 5 June 2020 

Status Cancelled

MIDEM will be re-loaded with a new digital service “The MIDEM Digital Edition“, a new online service open to all.


*A2IM INDIE WEEK (New York City, NY) a2imiw.com

Original Dates – 15 – 18 June 2020

Status – Moving online

A2IM Indie Week will be moving online & will still include the Libera Awards. More information will be released soon.


NXNE (Toronto, ON)nxne.com
Original Dates – June 2020

Status – POSTPONED 

New Dates – 11-16 August 2020


Folk Music Ontario (Ontario) – folkmusicontario.ca
Original Dates – September, 2020

Status – CANCELLED


Reeperbahn (Berlin & Hamburg, Germany) www.reeperbahnfestival.com
Original Dates – September 16-19, 2020

Status – At the moment this is going forward as planned


AmericanaFest (Nashville, USA) americanamusic.org
Original Dates – September 15-20, 2020

Status – At the moment this is going forward as planned


Folk Alliance International (Kansas City, MO) – folkconference.org
Original Dates – February 17-21, 2021

Status – POSTPONED  

New Dates – TBA



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Image Credit: Martin Sanchez