Speaking as an Austin resident, nearly the first thing I thought after reading about Covid-19 (on HN) about a month ago was, "well I guess I'm not going to any SXSW shows this year".

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.