As the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, expect some of the festivals and events you’ve been looking forward to to be cancelled or postponed. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday announced a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people, beginning next week. Not only will this help slow the spread of the virus, but also free up emergency services – such as police and ambulance crews – to be deployed elsewhere as public services become stretched.

This means, of course, that gigs at venues like the SSE Hydro, the O2 Academy, the Usher Hall and other large rooms around Scotland could be affected come Monday (16 March). If you’ve tickets for upcoming events at any venue that might fit this bill, contact the venue’s box office or check their website for updates.

This rolling page, meanwhile, will keep you up to date with other events and gigs that will be cancelled or moved in response to the pandemic.

Counterflows Festival cancelled

The Glasgow grassroots music festival is off – organisers say they’re hoping to reschedule much of the 2020 line-up for next year. In a statement, they say: “Putting international artists through the stress of cancelled flights and being potentially quarantined is just too much of a risk to take given the current situation. On top of this, it feels increasingly irresponsible to be holding social events of our scale given the risk of the virus spreading.”

The festival has also put together a list of albums by affected artists available for purchase on BandCamp – that list can be found here.