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Coachella has officially announced that it will be postponed until October, in direct response to the coronavirus outbreak.
On March 10, festival organisers Goldenvoice issued a statement announcing that the Indio, California festival will now take place on the consecutive weekends of October 9-11 and October 16-18.
Coachella was initially scheduled to begin the weekend of April 10, with Travis Scott, Rage Against The Machine and Frank Ocean due to headline.
Goldenvoice also confirmed that its country music festival Stagecoach – also staged in Indio, and headlined this year by Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church – will move from April 24-26 to October 23-25.
“At the direction of the County of Riverside and local health authorities, we must sadly confirm the rescheduling of Coachella and Stagecoach due to COVID-19 concerns,” Goldenvoice’s statement read.
“While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff and community very seriously. We urge everyone to follow the guidelines and protocols put forth by public health officials.”
All tickets for Coachella and Stagecoach April dates will be honoured for the rescheduled October dates, though ticketholders will be notified on how to secure a refund by this Friday, March 13.
Read Goldenvoice’s statement here:
— Coachella (@coachella) March 10, 2020
This confirmation from Coachella comes after reports from Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter that claimed that Coachella promoter Goldenvoice was working with officials towards postponement, instead of outright cancellation. Booking agents for some of the festival’s acts then told TMZ of the new dates.
On March 9, a public health officer said that the safety of Coachella and other public events would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This came after a patient was considered “a presumptive positive for coronavirus” at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. That’s about 15 miles from Indio, where Coachella is held. A local health emergency was declared in Riverside County – Rancho Mirage and Indio are cities in the county – after this case was confirmed.
Per Rolling Stone’s source, the cancellation of Austin, Texas festival/showcase SXSW last week as well as the spread of Covid-19 to Riverside County “really changed everyone’s tune”.
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