Panaji, March 12 (IANS): Organisers of Ketevan Sacred Music Festival, an international music event held annually in Goa, on Thursday announced the postponement of the festival, in view of the World Health Organisation escalating the global coronavirus outbreak to the status of a pandemic.

In a statement issued on Thursday, festival organisers said the event's date would be rescheduled.

"In light of the WHO escalating Covid-19 to a pandemic status, we deeply regret to announce that our festival needs to be postponed for now, but will be rescheduled after analysing the situation at a future date," the organiser said.

"Since the core spirit of our festival has always been to promote peaceful co-existence, we are keen to follow all the health and travel guidelines stated by the Indian government to ensure the safety of everyone involved," the statement issued by the organisers said, adding the fifth edition of the festival would be held after the crisis passes.

The festival is dedicated to St. Ketevan, a former Queen of Georgia, and is known to combine unique music traditions from different eras of the East and West, while also promoting religious coexistence by connecting and fostering dialogue among cultures through music.

This year's edition was scheduled to host 70 artists from Argentina, Spain, UK, France, Georgia, Australia, Japan, Russia, Vietnam, Portugal, Switzerland and India, over a period of three days.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had also written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant urging the former to postpone the international event in order to avoid gatherings.