The annual All State Jazz Festival has been called off because of concerns about coronavirus.
The festival for about 500 high school musicians from across the state had been scheduled for Friday and Saturday at South Portland High School, but was canceled Wednesday, according to Ken Kunin, superintendent of South Portland schools.
Kunin said the decision was made based on public health advice and in consultation with the Maine Music Educators Association, which sponsors the festival. Several schools had already pulled out of the event.
“While our aim is to continue school as usual to the extent possible following guidelines and advice given to us from Maine (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), going forward with an event that brings together students and families from around the state, and likely relatives from other states, is not recommended by public health officials at this time,” Kunin said. “We have amazing student musicians and music educators across Maine and we look forward to hosting statewide events in the future and we are disappointed that it will not be this weekend.”
More than 40 groups were scheduled to perform on Friday and an additional 30 groups were scheduled to play on Saturday. Organizers expected 2,000 people to attend the festival.
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