Coronavirus Outbreak: Coachella Music Festival Postponed

Coachella Music Festival 2018 (Credit: Shutterstock)

The coronavirus outbreak has claimed more entertainment event victims. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, one of world’s biggest music events, is now being postponed.

Following media reports that the show might not go on, event organizer Goldenvoice made it official Tuesday, saying the local government in Riverside County, California, advised against holding the festival as planned in April. Instead, the event will shift to two weekends in October.

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Stagecoach — a country music festival organized by the same company — is also being postponed.

“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 said in a statement on Twitter. “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.”

Back in 2018, Beyoncé made history as the first African-American woman to headline Coachella.

This year’s festival was set to feature headliners Frank Ocean, Rage Against The Machine and Travis Scott. Also included in the lineup were Megan Thee Stallion, 21 Savage, DaBaby, Summer Walker, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Sean and many more. It’s unclear if those same acts will perform in the fall.

The festival — which typically draws 100,000 attendees per day — will now take place on the weekends of October 9, 10 and 11 and October 16, 17 and 18, 2020. Stagecoach will move to October 23, 24 and 25, 2020. All purchases for the April dates will be honored for the rescheduled October dates, organizers said.

The postponements come on the heels of Friday’s cancellation of SXSW music and film festival in Austin, Texas and Monday’s cancellation of Miami’s EDM Ultra Music Festival.