By Timothy Ojo
The International Journalism Festival 2020, has been cancelled due to concerns of public health caused by the COVID-19, the organisers confirm.
“We know that this decision will cause inconvenience for many and have negative financial consequences for some but we believe it would be irresponsible to act in any other way given current circumstances,” the organisers Arianna and Chris said in a statement.
“The health and safety of festival speakers, attendees, volunteers, staff, suppliers as well as that of the citizens of Perugia is and must remain our top priority.”
The event scheduled to hold in Perugia, Italy in April has been cancelled one month before the date. It will be recalled that Italy currently has the most number of cases of Coronavirus in Europe.
Chris and Arianna said that the first option they had was not cancelling the global event, but rather because they couldn’t take any risk about the deadly Coronavirus.
The organisers were quick to point out that their over six months of preparation have come to nothing unfortunately.
“This is a sad day for the festival but we hope to return even stronger and more united for the 2021 festival and beyond,” Arianna and Chris said.
The next festival has been slated for the 14 to 18 April 2021.
This cancellation follows a list of high profile events that have been brushed aside because of COVID-19.