Daily Times

Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, neither the Coachella Music and Arts Festival nor the Stagecoach Music Festival this year will take place as scheduled, organisers confirmed to Rolling Stone.

Coachella was originally slated for two consecutive weekends next month – April 10th, 11th, and 12th, followed by April 17th, 18th, and 19th – at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, about two hours outside of Los Angeles. Stagecoach was set for the weekend after, April 24th to 26th. A newly reunited Rage Against the Machine was set to headline Coachella alongside Travis Scott and Frank Ocean. Multiple sources told Rolling Stone on Monday that Goldenvoice, the AEG subsidiary that organizes the festival, had been in talks with various artists’ management teams about postponement for the last week, adding that the talks were still ongoing as of late Monday night.

California has confirmed over 167 coronavirus cases and two deaths as of Tuesday. Riverside County, which stretches from outside of Los Angeles into the Southern California desert and includes the small town of Indio, declared a public health emergency on Sunday after it accepted a coronavirus patient at a local hospital and it announced a total of six cases of COVID-19 in its county on Monday

In a Twitter post and statement to Rolling Stone on Tuesday, Goldenvoice said, “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.”

California has confirmed over 167 coronavirus cases and two deaths as of Tuesday. Riverside County, which stretches from outside of Los Angeles into the Southern California desert and includes the small town of Indio, declared a public health emergency on Sunday after it accepted a coronavirus patient at a local hospital and it announced a total of six cases of COVID-19 in its county on Monday.

“Coachella will now take place on October 9, 10 and 11 and October 16, 17 and 18, 2020,” Goldenvoice said in its statement. “Stagecoach will take place on October 23, 24 and 25, 2020. All purchases for the April dates will be honoured for the rescheduled October dates. Purchasers will be notified by Friday, March 13 on how to obtain a refund if they are unable to attend. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you in the desert this fall.”

Coachella and Stagecoach are the latest music events to be reshuffled by the virus outbreak. They are also the latest major festivals to be called off due to the coronavirus outbreak, following South by Southwest in Austin and Ultra Festival in Miami. Additionally, Nashville’s Tin Pan South Songwriters festival was postponed because of both coronavirus fears and a recent tornado that tore through the city last week. Major acts like Pearl Jam and Madonna have postponed or cancelled personal tours due to the virus outbreak as well. Sources in the touring industry say they believe other upcoming festivals due to take place later this year are also at risk of postponement or cancelation, depending on the health situation in the next few weeks.

For the past few months, the coronavirus has also upended the Asian live music market as an array of regional acts cancelled shows and Western acts plotting overseas tours, like Green Day, Stormzy, Khalid and the National, soon followed suit. Madonna pulled the plug on the final two stops of her tour, which were scheduled to take place in Paris, Slipknot postponed Knotfest Japan and Kiss put a stop to all upcoming meet-and-greets.