The comeback of the entertainment industry is getting hit by Omicron. Award ceremonies, concerts, film festivals and high-profile events are planning to be cancelled and postponed.
Some are going virtual as the Covid-19 variant sweeps through the U.S.
The Grammy Awards organizers are considering postponing this year’s event which, was planned to take place in Los Angeles due to the spread of the new variant. The Recording Academy runs the annual music industry awards function. According to a person familiar with the matter, the Academy hasn’t concluded Monday morning.
Last year, the Grammys was slated for Jan 31 but was postponed from the end of January to mid-March due to the pandemic. The traditional venue which was Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena has also been moved to Los Angeles Convention Center. This move was done to allow the slimmed-down guest list to be spaced out.
The nonprofit Recording Academy relies on people paying top-dollar for the tickets. This counts as a significant source of income for the Academy.
The year kicking off with the postponement of music’s biggest night could become a setback especially to the live entertainment industry. The industry is already reeling from devastation from worker shortages. The new variant outbreak has cancelled shows which are complicated by testing and vaccine mandates and empty seats from no-shows.
Concerts executives last year pointed to the success of outdoor festivals and the eagerness of the fans to book tickets for the upcoming events in 2022. However, the Omicron has become a shadow over this. On Broadway, shows have been cancelled at the last minute as cast members tested positive.
On Wednesday, the movie theatres in Ontario, Canada were closed for an unspecified time. The Canadian government announced new restrictions due to the rise in the Covid-19 cases.
Omicron has yet to disrupt major U.S. exhibitors. The showtime was reduced in some movie theatres due to the industry-wide labour shortage. There is also a depressed interest in going to movies now.
Last year, digital screenings helped avoid crowded auditoriums for film festivals. The Sundance Film Festival, which is planned to start on Jan 20 in the Park City, Utah is planning for a hybrid model for screening.
In-person events and at-home screenings are included. The capacity for the theatres is reduced.
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