We regret to announce the cancellation of this event. Here is our translation of the official statement of the “The Children of the World Committee”.
In the final stages of the planning and preparations for our "7th Children of the World Festival" on Sun March 1, we regret to announce the cancellation. This was after giving reflection and consideration of the report of a case of Coronavirus in the sub-prefecture of Oshima.
We are very sorry for this unfortunate news for all the children and their relatives and friends, and also all the audience who were looking forward to the event, but we judged this was necessary to avoid any potential of international spread of the disease. We hope for the return to a safe environment for all as soon as possible, and we ask for your understanding.
As collaborators on the CoW event, WMDF played a part in this decision. Since WMDF artists and others overseas will be checking our site, let us add some little extra information.
The situation with this outbreak is very fluid and changing every day. So, it is hard to predict the progress. Locally, organisations such as the City Hall and businesses are taking measures for vigilance, such as stopping where possible with plans that involve the gathering of people or the mixing of people from different areas. Quite a few winter events have announced postponements or cancellations.
Amid such a background, we are starting to encounter the main WMDF deadlines for groups in May and April. We will be continuing our planning as usual, while monitoring the situation. As well as the news in Japan, there are already reports of cases in some of the countries we are working with for this year’s event. We think that at this time, health is the number one priority, so we hope that you all stay safe. A secondary focus that will grow over time if the health situation persists is the impact on local livelihoods and society. In Hakodate, WMDF will be working with other local event planners and organisations to apply our thinking power to reduce the impacts on our community as much as possible. We share with you our wishes that you and your communities will also stay strong.
