If Saudi Arabia can cancel/postpone the Umrah pilgrimage, I guess Austin can live without SXSW for a year.
But, I wonder, as we are both more interconnected and more able to realize what is happening when a virus like H1N1, SARS, MERS, Covid-19, etc. pops up, what percentage of the years will this happen? Not saying it was in any way a mistake, but I could imagine it might become a once or twice a decade event.