Following in step with Miami’s Ultra Music Festival and Austin’s South by Southwest, Indio, California's music festival Coachella will reportedly be cancelled in the wake of coronavirus concerns. Event organizers hope to move this version of the festival to October of 2020, per Billboard, but it is unclear at this time if that will be logistically possible.
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which started in 1999, is now a two weekend affair, and was intended to run from April 10 to April 12, and April 17 through April 19. This year, the festival was set to feature headliners Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott, and Frank Ocean. Artists like Lana Del Rey, Megan Thee Stallion, Run the Jewels and Calvin Harris also had sets planned.
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Coachella brings in over 250,000 people from all over the globe for the event every year, making the spread of coronavirus a real concern. Public health officials stated that four people have already been confirmed to have the novel coronavirus in the Coachella Valley, where the event is held.
Prior to the news of Coachella’s potential postponement or total cancellation, a petition on Change.org circulated encouraging Coachella’s festival producers to cancel the event in order to protect attendee’s health.
“As a highly inclusive community, we are responsible to protect each and every community member, which include the ones who are elderly, fragile, or the ones who suffers from chronic diseases, cancer, immune system diseases and other forms of disabilities,” the petition reads. “The lives of these people should not be down-played and we shouldn't risk their lives since they have a higher chance catching COVID-19 and develop critical situations that need to be hospitalized.”
In addition to Coachella, its country music-focused sister festival Stagecoach will likely be cancelled or postponed. The festival, which was set to run from April 24 to April 26 in Indio, Calif., may potentially move to October 23, though nothing is confirmed. Thomas Rett, Carrie Underwood, and Eric Church were set to headline the event.
Refinery29 has reached out to Goldenvoice for comment.