Art Basel Miami Beach canceled

Organizers optimistic about 2021 comeback

In the latest blow to South Florida tourism, contemporary-art juggernaut Art Basel Miami Beach has been canceled for 2020, organizers announced on Wednesday.

Citing the logistical nightmare of the COVID-19 pandemic, Art Basel organizers broke the news over social media, but sounded optimistic about a December 2021 comeback in Miami.

Before the announcement, the celebrity-studded annual art fair optimistically planned to return Dec. 3-6, but in a statement, an Art Basel spokesperson said international travel restrictions, among other reasons, made hosting the fair a burden.

“It is with great regret and

disappointment that we announce the cancellation of our December show in Miami Beach, as we know how crucial our show is for our galleries, as well as for the greater Miami arts community and economy,” says Noah Horowitz, Art Basel’s Americas director. “We thank everyone who shared their perspectives and insights with us over the past months and weeks and look forward to returning to Miami Beach next year to deliver a successful show.”

Art Basel’s scuttling, of course, is unsurprising given the rash of festival cancellations across South Florida, notably Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale and SunFest in West Palm Beach.

Last year’s buzzy edition of Art Basel delivered 83,000-plus tourists and European art collectors, live muralists and even Kardashians to the fair’s main hub, the just-upgraded Miami Beach Convention Center. Art lovers also sprawled out to large-scale satellite fairs, music bashes and drinka-thons hosted around the Wynwood, Midtown, Design District and Little Haiti neighborhoods.

The 50th anniversary edition Art Basel’s original show in Basel, Switzerland, Sept. 17-20 also has been canceled for 2020. The next installment of that event will take place in June 2021.

Art galleries that prepaid their booth and application fees ahead of Art Basel Miami Beach will have those fees honored at the 2021 art fair.

ART BASEL/COURTESY The 2020 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach has been canceled, organizers announced on Wednesday.