A Guide To Major Events Canceled, Postponed In San Diego, US Amid COVID-19 Concerns

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m., March 12, 2020:

Amid continued concerns about coronavirus, more event cancellations and postponements were announced Thursday, including the Gaslamp Quarter's annual St. Patrick's Day celebration, ShamROCK, which was scheduled for Saturday.

The announcement comes among a flurry of others — including suspension of San Diego State's spring sports seasons — as Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians to cancel events with crowds larger than 250 people.

"It breaks our heart that after 26 years, we won't be celebrating St. Patrick's Day with you," according to a statement from the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation. "But we look forward to returning to Gaslamp with more Irish festivities than ever before. As you can imagine, we are processing this change in events as quickly as possible.

The foundation said it will have an official statement by Friday at 4 p.m. regarding ticket options.

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The Port of San Diego, meanwhile, postponed its March 29 "Picnic in the Park" event at Pepper Park in National City. The Port said it would reschedule and announce a new date.

Borrego Springs canceled its 30th anniversary Circle of Art event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The Irish Congress of Southern California's 40th annual San Diego St. Patrick's Day Parade and Irish Festival, which was to have been held Saturday, was also canceled due to the coronavirus.

Earlier event cancellations include the Kyoto Prize Symposium at UC San Diego and the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering at Miramar College, which was scheduled for Saturday.

The Kyoto Prize symposium, which attracts international leaders in advanced technology, astrophysical sciences and theater, was planned for March 18-19. It will be rescheduled, according to a UCSD Twitter post that did not specify a new date.

Several conferences at the San Diego Convention Center were canceled, including the Parking Industry Expo (March 22-25), the Experimental Biology annual meeting of five biology societies (April 4-7), and the American Medical Group Association (March 25-28). Collectively, more than 20,000 attendees were expected at those gatherings, according to Convention Center officials.

On Tuesday, the American Association for Cancer Research canceled its April 24-29 annual meeting at the San Diego Convention Center. Organizers had anticipated more than 24,000 attendees from 80 countries and 500 exhibitors.

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San Diego Comic-Con — the convention center's largest annual event with 135,000 estimated attendees — is still planned for July 23-26, but organizers said that could change pending the COVID-19 situation.

WonderCon, which is owned and operated by Comic-Con, has postponed its April 10-12 convention in Anaheim. Tickets will be refunded.

Pearl Jam's April 13 show at San Diego's Viejas Arena is off. The Seattle-based grunge band decided this week to suspend its spring tour dates amid coronavirus concerns.

On Tuesday, the San Diego Opera announced it was canceling performances of "Aging Magician" at the Balboa Theatre after the artists opted not to travel because of the coronavirus outbreak, and Voice of San Diego canceled a live podcast with City Councilman Mark Kersey that had been scheduled for Wednesday on the UCSD campus.

A town hall event to address Latino health, which the Institute for Public Strategies had planned to hold in Chula Vista Thursday, was also canceled.