The Festival of Books announced the cancellation on Monday, March 9, stating: "It is with great sadness that the Board of Directors of the Tucson Festival of Books has chosen to cancel the 2020 Tucson Festival of Books. We know the Festival of Books brings much joy to many in our community as well as visitors from around the country. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation this year where we are unable to provide a quality festival for several reasons: Amid concerns over the CoronaVirus (COVID-19) we have experienced more than 100 author cancellations; authors have expressed deep regret that they will not be able to spend the weekend with us. This has deeply affected our author panel schedule and we anticipate more changes and cancellations will be forthcoming. This leaves us with little or no way to plan for author panels or to communicate effectively with the public about those changes."

Thus far, the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association does not plan to cancel Tucson's next major event, the Fourth Ave. Street Fair, scheduled for March 20, 21 and 22.