Coachella, Stagecoach music festivals postponed amid coronavirus concerns – Desert Sun

Goldenvoice, the Los Angeles-based company that produces the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and its country music counterpart Stagecoach over three weekends in April, has announced the postponement of both festivals due to growing public health concerns about the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

Coachella is being rescheduled for Oct. 9-11 and 16-18. Stagecoach will take place Oct. 23-25. The decision to delay the events comes after the cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells and the declaration of a public health emergency in Riverside County by the top public health officer on Sunday, March 8.

“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 an email Tuesday. “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.”

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Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser ordered the cancellation of both April festivals, citing “concerns about the possible health risks because of the ongoing move coronavirus,” according to an email from spokeswoman Brooke Frederico.

“This decision was not taken lightly or without consideration of many factors,” Kaiser said in a prepared statement. “No doubt it will impact many people, but my top priority is to protect the health of the entire community.”

Kaiser said the decision to cancel was “made to prevent the spread of the illness that has sickened hundreds of thousands worldwide and killed thousands.”

A total of six Riverside County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus, as of Monday afternoon. Two people are being treated outside of the county, two are being treated at hospitals in the Coachella Valley, and two are quarantined at home in the Coachella Valley. 

Several other conferences and large-scale events, including Ultra Music Festival in Miami and South by Southwest music, film and technology conference in Austin, have been canceled.

More: Will the BNP Paribas Open be rescheduled? Here’s how it could happen

Coachella was slated to be held over two weekends — April 10-12 and April 17-19. Stagecoach dates were April 24-26. 

Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and Rage Against the Machine were to headline Coachella. The Stagecoach lineup included Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, ​​Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, ZZ Top and Alan Jackson.  Goldenvoice did not address changes to the lineup in its email. 

Goldenvoice had already released this year’s set times for Stagecoach.

Alice Walker, a California-based singer-songwriter, was scheduled to perform on the Nikki Lane stage at Stagecoach. She also has a West Coast tour planned in April and a summer tour that is now up in the air. 

“I’ve spent the last day trying to figure out what my summer is going to look like if this happens, and Stagecoach is probably the biggest anchor date I have out there,” Walker said by phone Tuesday morning. “… I might have to completely reschedule my year if everyone else follows suit from the big festivals.”

Local artist Alf Alpha, who has performed at Coachella since 2010, said that he respects the decision of Goldenvoice to postpone the festival to October. 

“My father is 70-year old full-time resident of the Coachella Valley and his health and the rest of the health of our community, both young and old, have always been a top priority, along with all of our guests that attend the festivals,” he said. “As an artist, I honor and respect this decision and believe it’s the most responsible decision. We look forward to putting on a great performance and welcoming music lovers from around the world to our community and home in the Coachella Valley.”

What does it mean for desert’s other events? 

Federico said there are currently no blanket policies or guidelines that dictate when events should be canceled. 

Federico said Coachella and Stagecoach were canceled because there is a community spread case in the Coachella Valley, which requires proper social distancing. The music festivals are not able to provide the necessary distance between two people to prevent spread.

Additionally, attendees are coming from all over the country and the globe. Federico said this was one of the major concerns that led to the mandate to reschedule. 

The timeline of the events was also a concern as the music festivals were coming up quickly and the spread of the virus doesn’t appear to be slowing down. While White Party Palm Springs is also during the same time as the music festival, Federico said the county has yet to determine if that event — billed as the largest gay circuit party in the United States — should be postponed or canceled. 

White Party officials said Monday they are closely monitoring the spread of the virus and are following measures that the health department has outlined to protect partygoers, but had no plans to cancel the events.

Federico said the health department is currently working on additional guidelines for other upcoming events to help determine what may or may not be canceled in the near future.

Coachella returns to October roots

Goldenvoice is no stranger to hosting festivals at the Empire Polo Club in October. The company has a contract for five festivals per year with the city of Indio. It staged Desert Trip and Phish Fest in October, which is an important month because of weather — plus, it doesn’t conflict with polo season, which runs from January through March.

Additionally, Coachella’s inaugural event took place Oct. 9-10, 1999, and featured Rage Against the Machine as a headliner. 

October is generally a slightly hotter month in the Coachella Valley than April. In April, the average high is 87 degrees and average low is 60, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In October, the average high is 92 and average low is 63. 

Organizers said ticketholders will be notified by Friday, March 15, on how to obtain a refund if they are unable to attend the later dates. All purchases for the April dates will be honored in October, according to Goldenvoice.

Coachella, Stagecoach postponed: How can I get a refund or credit?

Music festivals impact valley economy

The music festivals have brought tens of thousands of people to the California desert each spring, filling hotels and boosting the local economy. Combined, those events are believed to generate at least $400 million in local economic impact.

In 2019, the city of Indio received about $3 million from the festival, around two-thirds of which was from ticket surcharges and another $1 million from associated sales tax revenues and transient occupancy taxes from campers.

The 2017 Coachella festival drew about 250,000 visitors to both weekends, plus another 75,000 people for the following week’s Stagecoach Country Music Festival. The combined 2017 regional economic impact exceeded $403 million, according to the 2017 report from the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Scott White, CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that he is thrilled to see the dates postponed instead of canceled outright. While the tourism dollars that typically flow heavily into the valley during March and April — the highest-generating revenue months of the year — will take a hit, more will flow in October. 

“That is an Olympic feat, to take a concert with that many variable dynamics to it, and pull it geotherm and say ‘We’re going to hold this in October,’” he said. “It’s going to have a positive impact.”

He pointed to Goldenvoice’s Desert Trip festival in 2016 and said hotel rates averaged $188 a night that year, compared to $134 the year before.

In the meantime, White’s organization is planning to push about $225,000 into extra marketing to promote Palm Springs as a driveable vacation destination to those in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. With the Easter holiday and spring break coming up, people may be looking to travel closer to home if they cancel flights. 

As to whether the postponement could have long-term implications for festival popularity, White said the ubiquity of coronavirus-related cancellations is likely to spare the desert and its marquee events from any stigma.

“Austin had it, Miami had it,” White said. “These decisions are being made all over the country and all over the world to contain the virus and limit its spread.”

In Palm Springs, the city that makes the most money from hotel bed taxes, or transient occupancy taxes, April is routinely the highest month for collections. The city made nearly $5.4 million from hotel taxes in April 2019, which amounted to about 15% of the fiscal year’s total collection. 

Mayor Geoff Kors couldn’t say how big the hit to those collections might be from the lack of festivals this April. But he said the city isn’t likely to have any cash flow issues; the latest comprehensive annual financial report from the city showed that the city has nearly $40 million in unassigned reserves. 

But Kors is concerned about the postponement affecting several thousand workers around the valley who work the festivals and routinely rely on the temp jobs as part of their income stream. 

And he’s encouraging local residents to support local businesses like restaurants who rely on festival season income to get them through leaner summer months. 

“It’s important for those of us who are not in high-risk categories to continue to go to restaurants and retail and support local businesses,” Kors said.

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