SOhO Restaurant & Music Club is keeping its doors open for gigs, making it one of the increasingly few local venues with a filled calendar of events for this month, as many have cancelled its March shows to curtail the further spreading of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
SOhO owner and talent buyer Gail Hansen told the News-Press that her venue will be staying open as long as the bands and artists she booked can and want to still play given current conditions. However, to lessen its crowd sizes and reduce the risk of virus spreading, the music club has capped attendance at its shows to 200 people.
While SOhO may be weathering the challenge of COVID-19, the list of local venues with cancelled performances has continued to grow. Though the Chumash Casino previously informed the News-Press of its intention to go forward with tonight’s Prince Royce performance, the venue announced Friday that the show is cancelled all other future performances have been postponed until further notice.
Those who bought tickets with credit cards will get automatic refunds within seven to 10 business days and those who bought tickets with cash can get refunds at the CLUB inside the Chumash Casino, officials said.
The Granada Theatre is cancelling or postponing all performances remaining on its callendar for the month of March to comply with California public health officials’ recommendations that gatherings of 250 people or more be cancelled or postponed. A press release from the venue instructs ticket holders to visit GranadaSB.org/Covid-Form and follow the page’s prompts to learn more about what their options are regarding their tickets. They can also call the Granada’s box office at (805) 899-2222, but should expect significant wait times.
UCSB Arts & Lectures has cancelled all of its upcoming events through April 26. Some of the events are pending rescheduling and only the April 3 performance by Samin Nosrat and Yotam Ottolenghi currently has a rescheduled date, May 2.
“We know this unprecedented action will be disappointing to our audiences as it is to us,” officials said in a press release issued Friday. “However, the well-being of our students, patrons, artists, staff members, and community is paramount during this time. We hope these actions will make a meaningful difference as we all face this difficult situation together.”
Individuals holding tickets for Arts & Lectures can email info@artsandlectures.ucsb.edu with any questions regarding their purchased tickets. Refunds will be given, and those who wish to donate their purchase to Arts & Lectures can do so on the Arts & Lectures website.
Other local events that have been scrapped due to the coronavirus include the 2020 Builder Games scheduled for May 9, the Ojai Performing Arts Theater’s upcoming performances of “Harvey,” which are being rescheduled for the fall, and the Santa Barbara Blues Society’s 43rd birthday show gala on March 21, which has been postponed indefinitely.
email: jgrega@newspress.com
