After the cancellation of SXSW due to coronavirus concerns, music fans have been waiting to find out whether the pandemic will impact the rest of festival season. According to a new Billboard report, promoter Goldenvoice is hoping to avoid canceling Coachella and Stagecoach outright by postponing the two Indio, California festivals to October.
Citing “high-level sources,” the publication reports that the tentative plan is to move Coachella to the weekends of Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 and push Stagecoach to Oct. 23. “It’s not a done deal but organizers should know in about 48 hours if the festivals can be saved,” Billboard writes.
Of course, postponing the festival instead of canceling is a logistical nightmare — one “involving hundreds of artists and their representatives, as well as hundreds of contractors and vendors and tens of thousands of employees.” As Billboard points out, “Artists are frequently touring during the fall months, and while organizers aren’t likely to get all the performers to agree to move, sources say that if enough of the big headline acts — this year’s Coachella headliners include Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott — then the festival can be moved.”
On Monday, three more cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Riverside County, where the festivals take place. Coachella, which was originally scheduled for the weekends of April 10 and April 17, is expected to bring 250,000 fans into the area. The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, which also takes place in the Coachella Valley, was recently canceled as well.
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