SAN ANTONIO – Hundreds of people are calling for city officials to cancel Fiesta 2020 due to coronavirus concerns.
According to a nonbinding, online petition on change.org, more than 600 people have signed on in support of the cancellation, as of Thursday evening. It’s not clear whether all the people who have signed on are from the area.
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Fiesta, scheduled for mid-April, is the Alamo City’s biggest annual event and attracts hundreds of thousands of people to downtown San Antonio.
As of this writing, Fiesta is still going on as planned and as not yet been postponed or canceled. However, the Fiesta San Antonio Commission is holding a press conference Friday morning to discuss this year’s schedule. It will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. on KSAT.com.
The annual two-week festival brings in over $300 million for the local economy and includes several major parades and big fundraisers for member organizations.
The online petition, created by Irene Cantu on Monday, asks city officials to cancel Fiesta in an effort to keep San Antonio residents safe and healthy.
“Thousands upon thousands of people travel from all over the country and internationally to attend Fiesta San Antonio every year. With local spread occurring in other parts of the country, and as close as Houston with 11 cases, it is just a matter of time before San Antonio becomes affected,” the petition reads in part. “San Antonio officials who have the power to cancel Fiesta, please be responsible... Don’t allow greed to cloud your judgment or thoughts in a time like this.”
Just last week, Austin city officials announced the cancellation of South by Southwest arts and technology festival, also due to the coronavirus.
As of Thursday, there are a total of 34 reported COVID-19 cases in Texas. In San Antonio, 11 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and all are American citizens who contracted the virus overseas and were evacuated in two groups from Wuhan, China, and the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship in February.
The latest: What you should know about coronavirus cases in Texas
The online petition is addressed to San Antonio city officials and Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
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