Film and entertainment industry events continue to be disrupted by the global coronavirus pandemic, resulting in cancellations and rescheduling. The latest event forced to cancel its staging is the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the 32nd edition of the event, initially scheduled to run from Feb. 25 all the way to March 8, 2021, will no longer happen. Organizers of the Palm Springs International Film Festival cite the still ongoing global coronavirus pandemic as the cause of the cancellation.

In a statement released to the public, festival organizers emphasized the need to prioritize festival attendees' health and safety, which include not just actors and filmmakers but also partners, volunteers, and festival staff.

Variety adds that despite the cancellation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, organizers will still be moving forward with two other events associated with the festival. These are the Palm Springs ShortFest and the Film Awards Presentation.

The Palm Springs ShortFest will continue on its original June 22 to 28, 2021 dates. Meanwhile, the Film Awards Presentation will still be held, but details as to what form it will take will be announced later.

The cancellation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival certainly upends the usual flow of the Hollywood awards season, as it has become the place where eventual Oscar winners have been first recognized.

Some of the Oscar winners that first gained buzz at the Palm Springs International Film Festival include Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, and Reneé Zellweger. Other names attracted attention at the festival and eventually got Oscar nominations to include Charlize Theron, Adam Driver, Cynthia Erivo, and Antonio Banderas.

The cancellation of the 2021 Palm Springs International Film Festival follows that of the Telluride Film Festival. Before the announcement of its cancellation, organizers at Telluride had planned to introduce a number of measures to ensure safety in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of these health and safety measures include thousands of COVID-19 tests, HVAC systems, as well as screenings that would enforce social distancing. Events that required face-to-face interaction, such as the guest director program, were also scrapped.

While it is still uncertain whether the global coronavirus pandemic will still be an issue in the coming year, the numbers provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are certainly not encouraging.

As per the Nov. 2 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now 9,182,628 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States. The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in the country is now at 230,383 people.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 dashboard for Nov. 2 says there are now 46,403,652 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world. Deaths caused by COVID-19 are now at 1,198,569 people.