iHeartCountry Festival Postponed Over Growing Coronavirus Concerns

As events continue to be canceled or postponed over the growing concern over the coronavirus [...]

As events continue to be canceled or postponed over the growing concern over the coronavirus pandemic, the iHeartCountry Festival, scheduled to be held on May 2, will no longer take place. Several of country music's biggest stars were planning on performing, including Blake Shelton, Kelsea Ballerini and Lady Antebellum, among others.

The iHeartCountry Festival was scheduled to be held at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, which is canceling all events in the immediate future. "In further response to the growing concerns over COVID-19 (coronavirus), The University of Texas is postponing all events at the Frank Erwin Center for the immediate future, UT Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced on Thursday," a statement read on the Frank Erwin Center website. "No decision has been made at this point on when events will resume, but an announcement will be made once that is determined. Ticket holders will be contacted directly about any postponed events."

"For the health, safety and well-being of all of its patrons, performers and staff, we have decided to postpone upcoming events at the Erwin Center for the near future," Del Conte said. "After discussion with University officials and leadership at the Erwin Center we believe it's in the best interest of everyone involved to proceed with an abundance of caution with events at that facility."

iHeartCountry also announced that they were canceling Kelsea Ballerini's upcoming album release party, scheduled for March 18, to celebrate the release of her third studio album, Kelsea.

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The iHeartCountry Festival is part of a long line of events that are being impacted by coronavirus concerns. South by Southwest, Stagecoach, C2C: Country to Country and Tin Pan South Songwriting Festival have all either canceled or delayed their events. Numerous artists are also being forced to reschedule their tours, including Jason Aldean, Shelton, Dan + Shay, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, the Zac Brown Band and Chris Stapleton, among others.

Other artists who planned on appearing at the iHeartCountry Festival include Dierks Bentley, Sam Hunt, Dustin Lynch, Kane Brown, Jon Pardi, Chase Rice, Hot Country Knights and Bobby Bones.

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Winter

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