Originally pushed from April to October, the highly anticipated two weekend-long Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as well as the mega-popular country music festival Stagecoach will no longer be taking place this year.
Coachella announced, “This is not the future that any of us hoped to confront, but our main focus remains the well-being of our fans, staff, artists, desert partners and everyone involved in the festival.”
This call was made for the health and safety of the public in fear of a second COVID-19 wave, potentially more devastating than the first.
In a statement issued by Riverside County, Riverside Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser stated, “I would not be comfortable moving forward. These decisions are not taken lightly with the knowledge that many people will be impacted. My first priority is the health of the community.”
According to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s four-phase plan for re-opening the state, “music festivals are not permitted to reopen until an effective treatment for the virus is widely available”.
Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, and Rage Against the Machine were set to headline Coachella 2020, but it’s uncertain whether or not this will change in 2021.
If you already purchased passes for the October 2020 dates, don’t worry- your tickets will be honored in 2021. Coachella will now take place the weekends of April 9th – 11th, 2021 and April 16th – 18th, 2021. Stagecoach will shortly follow, taking place the weekend of April 23rd – 25th, 2021.
Let the new countdown begin!
