Music concerts, business meetings cancelled due to the scare of Coronavirus

Hyderabad: The Coronavirus scare has taken a toll on events in Hyderabad. Even as Hyderabad has been ranked as one of the top dynamic cities in the country, the threat of COVID-19 has led to many events being cancelled since March first week when the first Corona-positive case was reported in Telangana.

Ultra Music’s concert, ‘Road to Ultra India’, was one of the major events that were cancelled amid the Coronavirus scare. The programme, which was to be held at the GMR arena in Shamshabad on 7 March, was called off after the outbreak of the deadly virus in the state. The event, which is known for its line-up of big players in the music industry like Alesso, KSHMR, Nicky Romero, and Vini Vici, was expected to have a turn-up of at least 30,000 people, according to industry sources.

Some event management companies in Hyderabad opine that the industry is running at a loss because of the panic induced by the virus. Speaking to NewsMeter, Avinash Mukherji, head of Flash Entertainment, said, “Events are being cancelled because people are scared. Apart from the big UltraMusic event, several other events, get-togethers organised by IT and pharmaceutical companies, have been called off.”

Talking about the losses incurred during this period, he said, “Our company might have lost at least a few lakhs due to this because we do not take advance payments and we rent out equipment for events before-hand. When events are cancelled, we have to bear the brunt.”

According to Neeraj Thakur, general secretary of Telangana Chamber of Events Industry, at least 35 per cent of event businesses have been affected. “This is the month for dealer sales meetings regarding monthly targets. Such programmes have been cancelled. Apart from this, Holi events have also been called off. Most event cancellations have happened after the first week of Coronavirus being reported. However, now things are slowly getting back to normal and people are less apprehensive about events, at least in the city,” he said.