Coachella postponed amidst coronavirus fears
The uberpopular Coachella music festival has been postponed from its usual two-weekend-run in April to October due to concerns about the growing coronavirus.
The festival’s producer Goldenvoice made the announcement Tuesday, also confirming that Stagecoach, a country music festival, will also be postponed. Coachella, held in Southern California, will now take place on October 9-11 and October 16-18, while Stagecoach will take place 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. 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,” Goldenvoice said in a statement.
The company said all passes for original dates will be honoured for the rescheduled shows.
Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean were originally announced as headliners of Coachella; Goldenvoice didn’t say if the performance lineup would change or stay intact. Others announced to perform include Calvin Harris, Lana Del Rey, Thom Yorke, 21 Savage, Disclosure, Summer Walker, Lil Uzi Vert and FKA twigs.
Riverside County, which has six coronavirus cases, declared a public health emergency on Sunday.
“No doubt it will impact many people, but my top priority is to protect the health of the entire community.” said Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser.
The move came the same day Carlos Santana, Zac Brown Band and Pentatonix cancelled concerts because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Santana said he had cancelled the European tour dates of his Miraculous 2020 World Tour. The tour was scheduled to start March 17 in Poland.
Pentatonix was also set to launch its world tour in Poland a day before Santana’s show, but posted a statement saying they would have to cancel the European leg of the tour.
“Despite our best efforts and intentions, it is, simply, no longer possible for us to execute this tour the way we want to: safely, confidently and completely,” the vocal group said in a statement.
Zac Brown Band said it
was one of the headline acts at the Coachella music festival was postponing the spring leg of its The Owl Tour, which would have kicked off Thursday in St. Louis.
“This was an extremely difficult decision, but the well-being of our fans is always our top priority,” the country group said in a statement.