Coronavirus thwarts plans for SXSW, two more cannabis events

Published March 6, 2020

Three more cannabis-related conferences have been canceled or postponed, including this month’s massive South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas, because of the coronavirus outbreak.

In addition to SXSW, which had a cannabis business track that included speakers from Marijuana Business Daily and Hemp Industry Daily, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) postponed indefinitely the upcoming Hemp-CBD Supplement Congress that was scheduled for April 14-15 in Portland, Oregon; and the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) in Berlin has been moved from early April to July.

The cancellation of SXSW could put pressure on other cannabis industry-related event organizers to follow suit.

The city of Austin made the decision to cancel SXSW, which was slated for March 13-22.

Organizers are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience for 2020 participants as soon as possible, according to the event’s website.