Coronavirus Impact: The 50 Largest Events Cancelled or Postponed due to Covid-19 So Far

Event cancellations and postponements have skyrocketed as the novel coronavirus spreads across the world. February experienced a 500% increase in significant and major events being cancelled or postponed compared to the same month last year, and March has reached 590% already. Update: We re-calculated the March cancellation and postponement rate for significant to major events as it was a week old. It is now 875%.

These changes are costing billions of dollars and are likely to continue for some time, especially as the virus spreads into new countries.

PredictHQ is keeping our customers informed about which events are cancelled, postponed, rescheduled or are continuing as planned. This enables them to update their strategies for the coming weeks and months, as well as ensure their 2021 forecasting does assume the coronavirus impact is their new normal. This article maps out how to understand, correlate and adapt to decremental demand drivers. We are also working proactively with news outlets such as Recode to share information.

Despite the cancellation of more than 850 events in February and March 2020, there are still over 35,000 significant and major events scheduled over the next three months, as well as millions of smaller events that frequently combine to form perfect storms of demand.

Get in touch with our team to get access to our millions of verified and ranked events to use in your demand forecasting. We update the API every minute so you’ll be among the first to know when events are cancelled, postponed and rescheduled.

💡 Talk to an Expert: Learn how strategic demand intelligence can transform your planning and forecasting. Get in touch

Below is our list of the 50 largest events to be cancelled or postponed so far (as of March 9 Pacific time). They are organized by the number of attendees, not by economic impact.

• Beijing International Automotive Exhibition – POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 820000
  • Original date in 2020: April 21 – 30
• i Light Singapore - POSTPONED
  • Country: Singapore
  • Attendance: 800000
  • Original date in 2020: March 6 – 29
• Geneva International Motor Show - CANCELLED
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Attendance: 602511
  • Original date in 2020: March 5 – 15
• BNP Paribas Open - CANCELLED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 450000
  • Original date in 2020: March 9 – 22
• SXSW - CANCELLED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 417400
  • Original date in 2020: March 13 – 22
• Salone del Mobile - POSTPONED
  • Country: Italy
  • Attendance: 386000
  • Original date in 2020: April 21 – 26
• Appliance & Electronics World Expo - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 350000
  • Original date in 2020: March 11 – 14
• China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 340000
  • Original date in 2020: March 18 – 21
• China Food & Drinks Fair - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 300000
  • Original date in 2020: March 22 – 25
• CIFF Phase I – Home Furniture - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 297759
  • Original date in 2020: March 18 – 21
• Seoul Living Design Fair - CANCELLED
  • Country: South Korea
  • Attendance: 286265
  • Original date in 2020: March 11 – 15
• CIAACE Beijing - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 286000
  • Original date in 2020: February 18 – 21
• Leipziger Buchmesse - CANCELLED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 286000
  • Original date in 2020: March 12 – 15
• Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna - POSTPONED
  • Country: Italy
  • Attendance: 265000
  • Original date in 2020: March 12 -16
• International Signs & Led Exhibition(ISLE) - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 250000
  • Original date in 2020: February 24 – 27
• Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris (The Paris Marathon) - POSTPONED
  • Country: France
  • Attendance: 250000
  • Original date in 2020: April 5
• Light + Building - POSTPONED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 220000
  • Original date in 2020: March 8 – 13
• Hannover Messe - POSTPONED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 215000
  • Original date in 2020: April 20 – 24
• Fair of Lyon - POSTPONED
  • Country: France
  • Attendance: 205000
  • Original date in 2020: March 20 – 30
• Arnold Sports Festival - CANCELLED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 200000
  • Original date in 2020: March 5 – 8
• Shanghai APPPEXPO - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 200000
  • Original date in 2020: March 4 – 7
• Ultra Music Festival - POSTPONED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 165000
  • Original date in 2020: March 20 – 22
• ITB Berlin - CANCELLED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 160000
  • Original date in 2020: March 4 – 8
• Livre Paris - CANCELLED
  • Country: France
  • Attendance: 160000
  • Original date in 2020: March 20 -23
• AnimeJapan - CANCELLED
  • Country: Japan
  • Attendance: 152331
  • Original date in 2020: March 21 – 24
• Chinese F1 Grand Prix - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 150000
  • Original date in 2020: April 17 – 19
• Hotelex Shanghai - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 147000
  • Original date in 2020: March 29 – April 1
• Interop-Tokyo - CANCELLED
  • Country: Japan
  • Attendance: 143806
  • Original date in 2020: April 13 – 15
• Fibo Global Fitness Retailtech Japan - POSTPONED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 143000
  • Original date in 2020: April 2 – 5
• Retailtech Japan - CANCELLED
  • Country: Japan
  • Attendance: 127871
  • Original date in 2020: March 3 – 6
• The Blue Bay LPGA Tournament - CANCELLED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 125000
  • Original date in 2020: March 5 – 8
• Download Festival Paris - CANCELLED
  • Country: France
  • Attendance: 120000
  • Original date in 2020: May 29 – 31
• Fensterbau Frontale - POSTPONED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 110000
  • Original date in 2020: March 18 – 21
• Mobile World Congress - CANCELLED
  • Country: Spain
  • Attendance: 109000
  • Original date in 2020: February 24 – 27
• Cartoomics - POSTPONED
  • Country: Italy
  • Attendance: 103000
  • Original date in 2020: March 13 – 15
• Asiamold - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 98776
  • Original date in 2020: February 26 – 28
• Baselworld - POSTPONED
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Attendance: 94000
  • Original date in 2020: April 30 – March 5
• China International Equipment & Manufacturing Industry Expo - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 93190
  • Original date in 2020: March 6 – 9
• Expo West - POSTPONED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 85000
  • Original date in 2020: March 3 – 7
• Prolight + Sound Guangzhou - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 81154
  • Original date in 2020: February 4 – 27
• Foodex Japan - CANCELLED
  • Country: Japan
  • Attendance: 80426
  • Original date in 2020: March 10 – 13
• Hong Kong Marathon - CANCELLED
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Attendance: 74000
  • Original date in 2020: February 9
• Bangtan Boys (BTS) Seoul - CANCELLED
  • Country: South Korea
  • Attendance: 70000
  • Original date in 2020: April 19
• Annecy Venetian Carnival - CANCELLED
  • Country: France
  • Attendance: 70000
  • Original date in 2020: March 6 – 8
• International Journalism Festival - CANCELLED
  • Country: Italy
  • Attendance: 65000
  • Original date in 2020: April 1 – 5
• Shanghai World Travel Fair - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 58000
  • Original date in 2020: April 23 – 24
• Beauty Dusseldorf - POSTPONED
  • Country: Germany
  • Attendance: 58000
  • Original date in 2020: March 6 – 8
• Dental South China - POSTPONED
  • Country: China
  • Attendance: 55000
  • Original date in 2020: March 2 – 5
• International Home + Housewares Show - CANCELLED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 52000
  • Original date in 2020: March 14 – 17
• HIMSS Conference and Exhibition - CANCELLED
  • Country: United States
  • Attendance: 43000
  • Original date in 2020: March 14 – 18
• HSBC Women’s World Championship - CANCELLED
  • Country: Singapore
  • Attendance: 32000
  • Original date in 2020: February 27 – March 1

This list is only 50 of the hundreds of significant and major events cancelled so far. With thousands of high-impact events globally each month still scheduled and occurring, it’s imperative businesses track cancellations and postponements and update their strategies as quickly as possible.