What to Know
- Officials made the decision to postpone the three-day Ultra music event scheduled for Bayfront Park earlier in the week
- City officials said they will work with organizers from both Ultra and Calle Ocho on any possible make-up dates
- Officials from the Kiwanis of Little Havana confirmed the Carnaval on the Mile event scheduled for this weekend will go on as scheduled
With one of the biggest events in the city - the Ultra Music Festival - already postponed amid growing concern over the Coronavirus, Miami officials are doing the same with another highly anticipated event next weekend.
Mayor Francis Suarez and other city officials met with the media Friday morning and announced the city is cancelling the annual Calle Ocho Festival in Little Havana.
"This decision is not a cause for alarm or panic," Suarez said. "We are doing it in an abundance of caution."
City officials said they will work with organizers from both events on any possible make-up dates.
"We are willing to have them host the event once the threat has dissipated," Suarez said when asked specifically about Ultra, though the festival's Instagram page indicated the event will not take place at all in 2020 and all ticket purchasers will be emailed Monday about refunds.
Suarez cited guidelines from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention about mass gatherings as the city's reason for making these decisions. Suarez added the city will consult with the CDC on all future activities in the city during the crisis.
"This hasn't been the easiest decision to make," Commissioner Joe Carollo said. "But it is the responsible one to make. Let there be no doubt that...the whole city of Miami is speaking in one voice."
Officials from the Kiwanis of Little Havana confirmed to NBC 6 that the Carnaval on the Mile event scheduled for this weekend in Coral Gables will go on as scheduled.
The Miami Open tennis tournament, set to start March 23rd for two weeks inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, will go on as scheduled as well.
Cities such as Hialeah have chosen to cancel all events in the city during the ongoing crisis while others such as Miami Beach, where thousands will be coming for spring break in the coming weeks, have not cancelled any events.
"All we can do is handle events in the city, controlled by the city," Suarez said.
Officials made the decision to postpone the three-day Ultra music event scheduled for Bayfront Park – one day after saying it would go on amid the concerns.
"This virus has gotten ahead of the world," Commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes the downtown region where Ultra was scheduled to be held, said Friday. "The City of Miami is choosing to stay ahead of the virus."
As of Friday, no cases of the virus have been confirmed in Miami-Dade or Broward but three people have been confirmed in other parts of the state and five other Florida residents are being held in quarantine in Washington state.
