Goldenvoice announces Coachella festival dates for 2021
The on-again, off-again next installment of Coachella is on again.
On Thursday, festival promoter Goldenvoice announced that the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which has been postponed because of the pandemic, will occur, “as of now,” on April 9-11, with the second weekend occurring April 16-18. As well, Goldenvoice announced that its flagship country music festival, Stagecoach, will convene on April 23-25.
“This is not the future that any of us hoped to confront, but our main focus remains the well-being of our fans, staff, artists, desert partners and everyone involved in the festival,” wrote the promoter in its announcement.
All 2020 passes will be honored in 2021, and those with passes will be contacted with further details via email by Monday. Information regarding refunds will also be made available. Both festivals will feature new rosters.
Riverside County health officials announced the cancellation of the two-weekend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as well as the Stagecoach country music festival.
The announcement comes a day after Riverside County public health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser announced that, because of the risks of the ongoing pandemic, Coachella and Stagecoach wouldn’t be permitted to take place until 2021 at the earliest. Initially planned for April, with Rage Against the Machine, Frank Ocean and Travis Scott as headliners, Coachella had been scheduled to return to the Empire Polo Grounds on Oct. 9.
“I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall,” Kaiser said on Wednesday. “In addition, events like Coachella and Stagecoach would fall under Gov. Newsom’s Stage 4, which he has previously stated would require treatments or a vaccine to enter. Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward.”
In late April, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that concerts in California would be on hold until a vaccine or other therapeutic treatments for COVID-19 are developed.
Wednesday’s announcement was a further blow to an already embattled concert industry. In a company-wide memo sent to AEG employees Monday announcing company-wide layoffs and furloughs, Chief Executive Dan Beckerman wrote, “This global pandemic has disrupted life for everyone, and the shelter-in-place orders, while critical to flatten the curve, have dealt a devastating blow to our businesses. It is clear now that live events with fans will not resume for many months and likely not until sometime in 2021, so we are faced with no easy options.”
AEG is the second-largest concert promoter in the U.S, and co-owns the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals with Goldenvoice.
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