After delaying the inevitable, Coachella will be canceled this year.
According to a report in Billboard that looked into the challenges that AEG (the parent company of Coachella promoter Goldenvoice) is facing due to the pandemic, the 125,000-person-per-day festival could make a limited-capacity return in April 2021. Billboard also says that a larger, higher capacity comeback that’s more in line with what fans are accustomed to, could return in Oct. 2021.
The festival was originally supposed to take place the second and third weekend of April prior to the pandemic. It was then moved to the second and third weekends of October.
On Wednesday, the festival was canceled after Riverside County (where the event takes place) public health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser said that both Coachella and Stagecoach will not happen this year due to the pandemic.
“I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall,” Kaiser said on Wednesday. “In addition, events like Coachella and Stagecoach would fall under Governor Newsom’s Stage 4, which he has previously stated would require treatments or a vaccine to enter. Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward.
This all falls in line with what other promoters and experts have said about the concert industry: kiss 2020 goodbye, at least on a larger scale.
SPIN has reached out to Goldenvoice for comment on Coachella’s status.
UPDATE 6/11: Goldenvoice has issued a statement on the cancelation, including the dates for next year’s event, which you can see below.
— Coachella (@coachella) June 11, 2020
The move isn’t surprising, but you can now add Coachella to the ongoing list of festivals canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean were all slated to headline this year’s event. It will now have to wait.
