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Miami Herald
Miami Herald
National
Howard Cohen

Miami's Chinese New Year festival has been canceled. Coronavirus fears are to blame

MIAMI _ The popular Chinese New Year Festival event that traditionally draws thousands to the Miami Dade College campus in Kendall for 32 years has been canceled.

Officially the reasoning for the cancellation of the festival that was planned for Feb. 16 was given in vague fashion in a statement issued Friday: "In order to stand with the global family of Asia _ especially China, the Asian-American Advisory Board regrets to announce the Chinese Cultural Foundation has decided to cancel the 2020 Chinese New Year Festival."

The announcement goes on to urge everyone involved to "Please enjoy and celebrate the Chinese New Year _ the Year of the Rat _ with your loved ones" and looks forward to supporting the 2021 Year of the Ox Chinese New Year Festival in Miami.

But the scarlet letter "C" _ as in coronavirus _ is the reason festival organizers gave on its Chinese New Year Festival Miami Facebook page to its nearly 1,000 followers.

"Due to the worldwide concerns regarding 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and our concern for the welfare and benefit of all our visitors, vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors, the 2020 Festival Committee has canceled the 2020 Chinese New Year Festival."

The wording has angered some in the community.

On Saturday, Peter Liu, the president of the Chinese Cultural Foundation and the festival's chair, told the Miami Herald that the difficult decision to cancel this year's not-for-profit event was based on expectations of a steep fall off in attendance.

The coronavirus was not the direct reason for the cancellation, he said, but "because of unwarranted fears" the loss of revenue could be "financial bankruptcy" and would likely kill the decades-old festival outright, Liu said.

The event, which includes food vendors and cultural performances, generally draws between 3,000 and 4,000 people who pay a $10 admission.

Miami's Chinese New Year Festival is fully staffed by volunteers and mom-and-pop vendors. Sponsorship opportunities are minimal. Festival organizers pay to rent space on the campus for a stage and seating. The professional performers, as well as police security staff and bathroom facility staffers also must be paid.

For instance, because the event is held on a college campus, the foundation can't sell alcohol or accept sponsorship from beer companies to offset the costs of operating the festival, Liu said.

"The festival limps from year to year and that is why financial stability is significant," he said. "We have heard reports from many of our regular attendees that they plan to skip this year," Liu said.

Liu estimates that the expected decline in attendance could be about 20% off the norm _ or about 600 fewer people this year compared to the 2019 festival.

"One of the big draws is the show, obviously, but also the food," Liu said. "People want to come out and try other foods.

"The other major concern is the mom-and-pop food vendors that have come to rely on the one-day festival as good for them. Should there be a fallout in attendance this could be a disaster for them because their inventory is perishable. It's not like an arts and crafts festival where they can pack up and move to another festival. We couldn't put these people that have supported us over the years at a financial risk," Liu said.

The assumption that if someone is Chinese they must have been to China recently _ the epicenter for the virus is in Wuhan, China, nearly 8,500 miles from the Miami Dade College festival site _ is not sitting well with many on social media who had planned on attending.

"Oh wow, that's like saying the Superbowl (sic) should've been canceled too as people are well traveled and arrived globally. What a way for an educational institutions (sic) to promote fear and racism," Erin Tam wrote in the comments thread of the Facebook post.

The Miami resident was rebuked in a response attributed to the Chinese New Year Festival Miami on its Facebook page: "This event in not sponsored by an educational institution! It is sponsored by the Chinese Cultural Foundation, Inc."

The organizer's response further irritated Tam.

"Chinese New Year Festival Miami apologies to Miami Dade College," she wrote. "But that's even worse that the Chinese Cultural Foundation would take such an action that would contribute to furthering the xenophobia that is going around instead of promoting togetherness and educating the public about facts related to the virus."

Tam referenced a recent coronavirus hate attack of a Chinese woman who was wearing a face mask on a New York subway. According to a report by NBC News, the woman was punched and kicked by a man who called her "diseased."

"Some of the uneducated think they can get the virus from eating Chinese takeout. Canceling an annual event on baseless claims about about public safety. Reckless," Tam responded on Facebook.

Liu commiserates. But he reiterates that the cancellation was stoked by fears of smaller crowds and financial ruin, not fears that anyone could be exposed to the virus based on the makeup of the event.

"If we wanted to be stubborn and push forward there might be no more festival next year," he said. "Every one here is a volunteer and giving up of their time without financial resources to offset the losses. If we take even a $5,000 loss we could not be covered. We would certainly never not pay our suppliers and vendors and even Miami Dade (College.) We have a reputation ensuring them that every single bill is paid on time."

There have been no reported cases of the coronavirus in Miami, but its impact on local businesses and on the cruise industry has been felt.

Florida could lose as much as $1.75 billion as a result of the virus _ about one-quarter of that concentrated in Miami-Dade and Broward, alone, according to a Miami Herald report.

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