Melbourne International Comedy Festival has been cancelled amid coronavirus fears and the upcoming event ban.
The beloved comedy festival adds to the long list of event cancellations since Scott Morrison announced the government planned to “advise against” non-essential events with over 500 people in an attempt to minimise the spread of the virus.
The event was cancelled on Friday afternoon amid coronavirus fears, according to 3AW.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival was set to take place between March 25 and April 19 2020, with Arj Barker, Wil Anderson and Christian Hull all set to attend the event.
“Following the Prime Minister’s announcement about non-essential mass gatherings, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The success of our Festival is in the way that comedy transforms our city for the inspiration and entertainment of hundreds of thousands of comedy lovers.
Our primary concern is the health and welfare of our artists and participants, staff and audiences. Cancelling the Festival is heartbreaking but the only decision possible to support the community’s efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19),” the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said in a statement.
Famed comedian Tom Gleeson has taken to social media to express his disappointment following the news.
2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival has been cancelled. Obviously I’m devastated. After the summer we had, I feel like we really needed it. Sorry to all those who booked tickets. Refunds will be available. Hopefully we can get together and ‘Lighten Up’ some other time. pic.twitter.com/Z3JRFKZafE
— Tom Gleeson (@nonstoptom) March 13, 2020
The event is a huge drawcard of life and culture in Melbourne, and adds to the long list of events to be cancelled in the last 24 hours.
More to come.
