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Coachella & Stagecoach 2021 Postponed

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For the third time in less than a year, Coachella is being forced to postpone its dates. The festival’s planned return was slated for April 9 – 11 and 16 – 18, though organizers will now be forced to look for two new weekends following an announcement from Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the public health officer for Riverside County where Coachella takes place.

As of last year, Coachella had Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and a highly anticipated Rage Against the Machine reunion booked as the festival’s headlining acts. In March of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the US, Coachella was forced to postpone, initially looking to lock in October dates. Then, in June of 2020, Coachella’s October dates had to be shelved as well, marking the first year since 2000 that the festival did not run.

In recent weeks, Glastonbury made a similar announcement, forgoing 2021, as well as Ultra Music Festival. Despite this month’s cancellations, Electric Forest does appear to be moving ahead in 2021 as planned.

Coachella 2021 To Be Postponed Until October 2021

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The stateside return of live music events has proven to be a moving target as COVID-19 cases have periodically spiked across the country all year long. As such, all major events saw forced cancellations in 2020, and now, 2021 looks to be in jeopardy too, as Coachella is reportedly planning to push its dates…again.

According to a new report by Rolling Stone, Coachella will be postponed a third time. Sources who have spoken directly with the festival’s promoters—AEG and Goldenvoice—told Rolling Stone that they were told to abandon the April dates and prepare for October 2021. One of those sources claimed that the fest is “100% moving.” “Frankly, they were supposed to announce [the new dates] over Labor Day,” the source said. “They hadn’t. And they were supposed to announce at the end of September — they hadn’t.”

What’s more—industry insiders are also expecting other major events properties to follow suit, with festivals like Governor’s Ball and Austin City Limits also reportedly looking at weekends in October 2021. Once source explains,

“It’s going to be really challenging for the artists to decide because multiple factors always come in. What does the paycheck look like, what does the moment look like? Most, if not everyone, are watching what Coachella does. A lot of people are going to wait to see what they do before they really solidify their plans and either have to compete with artists or renegotiate.”

With 2021 cancellations and postponements already trickling in, what Coachella does may prove to have a domino effect on other major festival brands in the US next year. We’ll likely know how the cards are going to fall very soon, though the outlook on 2021 is shaky at best.

Coachella 2020 Officially Cancelled

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The 2020 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival put on by promoter Goldenvoice has been canceled in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to Riverside County officials. The Stagecoach Country Music Festival has also been canceled.

Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser signed an order June 10 canceling the popular festivals, which draw 250,000 and 85,000 people annually, citing concerns of another wave of COVID-19 in the fall. A similar order was signed by Kaiser in March, which allowed for the festivals to be rescheduled to October.

The cancellation news came the same day another Southern California entertainment institution, the Disneyland Resort, announced plans to reopen in mid-July.

Kaiser said it was “important to distinguish” what’s going on now compared to what the information shows for the future.

“We expect that there’s going to be sporadic outbreaks in the summer,” he said, noting that indicators point to another wave in the fall and that there’s no vaccine or treatments in the pipeline, which would be required for the festivals to take place, as they are under Stage 4 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s multi-stage plan to reopen the state.

Kaiser said that given the amount of preparation and organization that goes into the festivals, ordering the cancellation “makes the most sense to do now.”

Coachella happens annually at the Empire Polo Club grounds in Indio. This would have been the festival’s 21st year.