LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar 2020

SEVERAL CONFERENCES, FESTIVALS and events are set to be cancelled amid fears the coronavirus could spread further but Electric Picnic, the biggest music festival in Ireland, looks set to go ahead as promoters today announced this years line-up.

Acts including Rage Against the Machine, Snow Patrol, Picture This and Lewis Capaldi will headline this years festival which takes place in Stradbally, Co Laois on the first weekend of September. 

It comes against the backdrop of other festivals – most notably the St Patrick’s Day festival – and other conferences across the country which have been cancelled due fears the Covid-19 coronavirus will spread further in the coming weeks.  

This isn’t necessarily based on government information yet, but on the trend of events: the St Patrick’s Day festival being cancelled, as well as Six Nations rugby matches being postponed.

Trinity College has closed its Book of Kells exhibition and Science Gallery, and is holding some of its lectures online.

The Irish Cancer Society fundraising event Daffodil Day has been cancelled, leaving the charity facing a hole in its annual budget.

Dublin’s Comic Con is being postponed until August, it was announced today. 

“This has been a very hard decision for us to make… These shows are a labour of love and it is not a decision taken lightly,” a statement said.

As of yesterday, we were committed to ensuring the event went ahead safely, but in a very short time we have seen the local and global landscape change beyond our control.

It added that guest cancellations, coupled with requests from the public that the event be postponed resulted in them deciding to call off the event and hold it in August instead.

The music and campervan festival Vantastival is being postponed until September. 

Due to multiple challenges arising from the spread of Coronavirus, we have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the Vantastival festival, which will now take place 18th – 20th September 2020. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The Dublin Tech Summit 2020 has also been postponed until September. 

“We are also cognisant of our responsibility to protect the safety of our community and prevent the further spread of this virus. Based on the information provided by leading health organisations and the outlook on COVID-19, we have made the decision to reschedule DTS from our planned April date.

“In light of this, we are delighted to announce the rescheduled date of the 9th & 10th of September 2020,” a statement said.

There is an FAQ section on its website for those who had planned to attend the summit.

The Dublin Business Innovation Centre is postponing its FutureScope 2020 event, which was due to take place on 1 April at the Convention Centre.

The Irish Men’s Sheds Association has also asked men’s shed members to be mindful of their own health the health of their members.

In a survey carried out by Dublin Chamber of Commerce on 400 members, it found that the vast majority of firms were concerned of what effect coronavirus would have on their business (97%).

“While the concern is widespread, just over half of firms (51%) note that Covid-19 has had an adverse impact on their revenues so far,” it said.