Miami’s annual dance music conference, WMC (Winter Music Conference), has decided to officially cancel their event, according to organizers.
“Due to the Florida Governor’s declaration of a public health emergency and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Interim Guidance for COVID-19, the 35th edition of Winter Music Conference, originally scheduled for March 16 – 19, 2020, will be rescheduled,” organizers said in a statement today (March 9) on the WMC website.
“After spending the past ten months preparing for the event with our team, panelists and event partners, we are profoundly disappointed, however, there is nothing more important than the health, safety and physical well-being of our attendees and employees,” the statement added.
The cancelation of the event, which was set to take place next week, had been expected by many, especially after Ultra Music Conference, which is held (nearly) concurrently in Miami, was canceled last week. And while Winter Music Conference is a much smaller conference than other music related confabs, such as the just canceled SXSW, founders of the event likely wanted to err on the side of caution in light of the current uncertainties as to how the COVID-19 virus spreads.
And while both Ultra and WMC are now both officially off this month, all is not totally lost for those dance music fans still headed to Florida, as Miami Music Week will still take place in South Beach and surrounding areas, according to the Miami New Times, which reports that “the only party that has announced a cancelation is Damian Lazarus’ ‘Get Lost’ event.”