Organizers Cancel Tampa Bay Events Due To Coronavirus

TAMPA BAY, FL — The following Tampa Bay events have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Patch will add events as they are announced.

Mayor's River O' Green Fest

After discussing the matter with various public health officials, the City of Tampa and the Tampa Downtown Partnership decided to postpone the 2020 Mayor's River O'Green Festival scheduled for Saturday, March 14.

This includes the River O' Green Gallop and the Irish for a Day heritage celebration with live music, a leprechaun contest, food and games.

“Safety and wellness are always our top priority and, out of an abundance of caution, we support the mayor’s decision to postpone this year’s River O’ Green Fest,” said Lynda Remund, president and CEO of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. “We will continue to closely monitor the latest developments with coronavirus and cooperate fully with recommendations from public health officials.”

Bands On The Bay

Safety Harbor's biggest charity rock concert, Bands on the Bay 2020, set for Saturday, March 14, at Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, will be rescheduled for a date to be announced.

Gasparilla International Film Festival

The Board of Directors of the Tampa Film Institute Inc. has decided to postpone the Gasparilla International Film Festival March 17-22.

All tickets and passes will be honored at the new date, which will be announced as soon as it becomes available. Please check GIFF website for updates.

Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival

Organizers of the 2020 Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival April 10 to 26, presented by Visit St.Pete/Clearwater, have announced they will cancel this year's festival due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Festival organizers will those who have purchased tickets in the next week to issue a refund.

Chasco Fiesta

Chasco Fiesta 2020 at Sims Park in downtown New Port Richey has been postponed. This includes the John Michael Montgomery concert scheduled for Saturday, March 28, Bret Michaels on Saturday, April 4, and the parade on Saturday, March 28.

Organizers said they will reschedule the Chasco Fiesta at a later date when the virus is under control.

Taste Of South Tampa

The South Tampa Chamber of Commerce has announced the postponement of its 15th annual Taste of South Tampa, scheduled March 22, until this fall. The South Tampa Chamber will honor all sponsorship and ticket purchases on the new event date to be announced soon.

Ruth Eckerd Hall Concerts

Susan Crockett, Ruth Eckerd Hall president and CEO, and the Ruth Eckerd Hall Board of Directors announced that Ruth Eckerd Hall is postponing all performances, all educational activities and events through Thursday, April 2.

This includes performances and events at Ruth Eckerd Hall, The Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, The Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts, The Murray Theatre and off-site events presented by Ruth Eckerd Hall on the Road.

This includes the following events and performances:

• Josh Groban, Monday, March 16 - Rescheduled date TBA
• Jill Scott, Tuesday, March 17 – Reschedule date TBA
• 112 Years of Broadway at 1 and 7 pm, March 19 – Reschedule date TBA
• AMERICA with special guest Tom Rush, Friday, March 20 – Reschedule date TBA
• Alan Parsons Live Project with special guest Robby Steinhardt & The Music of Kansas, Sunday, March 22 – Reschedule date TBA
• David Foster, Tuesday, March 24 – Rescheduled for Friday, January 29
• MasterChef Junior Live!, Wednesday, March 25 – Reschedule date TBA
• Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Thursday, March 26 – Reschedule date TBA
• Buddy Guy & Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, Thursday, March 26 – Reschedule date TBA
• Doo Wop Reunion, Friday, March 27 – Reschedule date TBA
• Rodrigo y Gabriela, Saturday, March 28 – Reschedule date TBA
• Winter Dance Party, Sunday, March 29 – Reschedule date TBA
• Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4 – Reschedule date TBA
• One Night in Memphis, Sunday, April 5 – Reschedule date TBA
• The Price is Right Live, Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 – Reschedule date TBA

The following performances in the Murray Theatre at Ruth Eckerd Hall have been postponed:

• Ruth Eckerd Hall Spring Concert, Friday, March 27 – Reschedule date TB
• The Florida Orchestra performing Peter and the Wolf, Saturday, March 28 – Reschedule TBA

The following performances at the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre have been postponed:

• Art Garfunkel Saturday, March 14 – Reschedule date TBA
• Eric Johnson, Sunday, March 15 – Reschedule date TBA
• The Phillies 40th Anniversary of the 1980 World Championship, Monday, March 16 – Reschedule date TBA
• Geoff Tate, Tuesday, March 17 – Reschedule date TBA
• The Choir of Man, Wednesday, March 18 – Reschedule date TBA
• Graham Nash, Thursday, March 19 – Reschedule date TBA
• Killer Queen, Friday, March 20 – Reschedule date TBA
• Gino Vannelli, Saturday, March 21 – Reschedule date Friday, March 5, 2021
• Steve Hackett, Sunday, March 22 – Reschedule date TBA
• Old Crow Medicine Show, Thursday, March 26 – Reschedule date TBA
• Stephen Lynch, Friday, March 27 – Reschedule date TBA
• Bruce Hornsby, Saturday, March 28 – Reschedule date TBA
• Jackie Evancho, Sunday, March 29 – Reschedule date TBA
• Sister’s Easter Catechism: Will My Bunny Go To Heaven, Sunday, April 5 at 3 & 7 pm – Reschedule date TBA
• Trey Kennedy, Wednesday, April 8 – Reschedule date TBA
• A Bowie Celebration, Thursday, April 9 – Reschedule date TBA
• Patton Oswalt, Saturday, April 11 – Reschedule date TBA
• David Archuleta, Saturday, May 9 – Reschedule date TBA

The following performance at The Palladium Theatre has been cancelled:

• Howard Jones Acoustic Trio, Sunday, March 29. Tickets will automatically be refunded from point of purchase.

Blast Friday starring Pablo Cruise on Friday, March 27 in Coachman Park in Clearwater has been cancelled.

If you have tickets to a show that has been postponed or cancelled, wait until the new date is announced to decide if you can attend. Once the rescheduled date is announced, if you are no longer able to attend that event, you can exchange your tickets for a future date or alternate show, a credit voucher or receive a full refund by contacting the ticket office, ticketing@rutheckerdhall.net.

Florida Orchestra

Based on the recommendation of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis against large public gatherings, The Florida Orchestra has canceled or postponed all concerts through April 5 to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The following performances are canceled or postponed:

• March 20-22: Bach’s St. John Passion Masterworks concert. Canceled
• March 25 & 26: Bright Side of Beethoven Coffee Concert. Canceled
• March 27-29: Broadway Pops concert. Canceled
• March 28: Peter and the Wolf Storytime Series. Postponed
• March 29: String Trio Woodson Chamber Series. Postponed
• April 3-5:
• Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons Masterworks concert. Canceled
• Week of community chamber concerts at hospitals, Tampa International Airport, ZooTampa and R.E. Olds Park. Canceled

If you have tickets to a canceled event, a gift certificate will go into your TFO account that has no expiration date. If you would like to donate the value of your ticket instead, email ticketcenter@floridaorchestra.org.

If you purchased tickets through the venue's box office, contact the venue directly.

Straz Center

The David A. Straz Center, 1010 N. Macinnes Place, Tampa, has canceled all events until April 19. This includes Jobsite Theatre (in the Shimberg Theatre, the Jaeb Theatre, Morsani Hall and all events in the Straz complex.

This includes Mandy Moore in concert, "Shout! The Mod Musical," "The Pirates of Penzance," "Jersey Boys," "Miss Saigon" and Taste at The Straz.

AirFest

MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa has postponed its annual AirFest event March 28 and 29.

MacDill said there are no current plans to cancel other base events at this time, but it will assess the risk for each gathering.

Saturday Night Brawl IV

Saturday Night Brawl IV scheduled for March 28 at the Yuengling Center on the campus of USF has been postponed. The University of South Florida has decided to cancel or postpone all university-sponsored events on its campuses for the next 30 days in light of continuing concerns about coronavirus. Ticket holders are asked to hold onto their tickets as they will be valid for the new date.

Chili Blaze

The City of Pinellas Park's annual Chili Blaze and Country in the Park scheduled for Friday, March 20 has been canceled following the governor's announcement regarding mass gatherings. For more information regarding other event cancellations throughout March, visit the city's website.

Clearwater Suspends Senior Programs

The City of Clearwater is suspending senior programs at city recreational facilities as of Monday, March 16, until further notice.

The program suspensions include:

• All programs at the Aging Well Center
• Silver Sneakers classes at all recreation centers
• Enhance Fitness classes at all recreation centers

Check back. Patch will post more cancellations and postponements as they are announced.