Coachella & Stagecoach Festivals Officially Postponed To October

As the coronavirus outbreak continues and the world takes necessary precautions, Coachella has decided to follow suit. The annual music and arts festival said Tuesday it has postponed its event, which takes place in Coachella Valley, CA, to a pair of weekends in October. The fest was set for April 10-12 and April 17-19 and now will take place October 9-11 and October 16-18.

Organizer Goldenvoice also said today it is moving Coachella’s sister country music festival Stagecoach from April 24-26 to October 23-25. Both events are at held at the 78-acre Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA.

“At the direction of the County of Riverside and local health officials, we must sadly confirm the rescheduling of Coachella and Stagecoach due to COVID-19 concerns,” the promoter said in a statement. “While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff and community very seriously.”

Goldenvoice, which according to reports had been reaching out to its booked acts to discuss alternate dates for the music festivals, said all tickets purchased for the April shows will be honored in October. Ticketholders who can’t make the fall dates will be notified about refund options on Friday.

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The rescheduled dates for Coachella are the same weekends that the classic rock Desert Trip shows were at the same venue in 2016.

The postponements follows last week’s news that SXSW, one of the biggest music, film and tech festivals in the world, canceled its confab for the year, causing a ripple effect through the city of Austin and the indie film community.

Each year, Coachella brings in hundreds of thousands of attendees — not to mention revenue. In 2017, the fest was attended by nearly 250,000 and in 2018, it was attended by over 99,000. The fest always is a hot ticket and brings in some of the top names. This year’s slate included headliners like Rage Against the Machine, Megan Thee Stallion, Run the Jewels, Calvin Harris, Travis Scott, Thom Yorke, 21 Savage, Danny Elfman, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, Lil Nas X, FKA Twigs, Fatboy Slim and others.

Today’s news comes after the pro tennis BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells canceled its annual tournament Sunday in the wake of a public health emergency declared in the Coachella Valley. The Riverside University Health System – Public Health on Tuesday said there are six cases of coronavirus in the county to date. The California Department of Public Health said that as of this morning there were 157 confirmed cases in the state and two deaths.

“The Riverside County Public Health Department has declared a public health emergency for Coachella Valley after a confimred case of coronavirus (COVID-19) locally,” the tennis tournament tweeted Sunday. “As a result, the 2020 BNP Paribas Open will not take place due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and the safety of the participants and attendees at the event. This is following the guidance of medical professionals, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and State of California.”