Webby Awards cancels annual event due to COVID-19 outbreak

The Webby Awards has decided to cancel its 24th Annual Awards show on May 11th in New York City due to impact of COVID-19 around the world.

Claire Graves, executive director of The Webby Awards, said she shares the news today with a "heavy heart," but as "communities and businesses around the world become increasingly affected by this global pandemic," the organization has to put the health and well being of the community first.

"We continue to be committed to recognizing and honoring the best of the Internet. The 24th Annual Webby Award Nominees will be announced in the coming weeks with the launch of The Webby People’s Voice public voting," she said in a statement.

Graves added that the Webby Awards will release a schedule in a few days, along with a plan to announce the 2020 winners, which will include an "internet celebration that will honor the year’s best work, giving our winners their chance to mark their win in history with a hallmark Webby 5-Word Speech."

"Despite these changes and the current global environment, we are excited to celebrate this year's Webby honorees, nominees, and winners," said Graves in the statement. "We’ve been working with some of the world's most creative people and companies to help guide what The Webby Awards will be in 2020 and are excited to unveil our plans soon."

On Wednesday, Cannes Lions announced the official postponement of the Festival of Creativity from June to October. The Cannes and Webby changes follow the likes of SXSW, One Show, Adobe Summit, F8 and many other conferences and award shows having canceled or postponed their events due to the coronavirus outbreak.