Coachella Confirms 2020 Postponement Amid COVID-19 Concerns

Coachella has joined SXSW and Ultra in postponing their 2020 event amid COVID-19 concerns.

Author:: John Cameron
Publish date:: Mar 10, 2020

As lawmakers the world over scramble to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus, another major festival has fallen to the threat of outbreak. Shortly after Ultra Music Festival, South By Southwest and Tomorrowland Winter revealed such news, Goldenvoice have announced that they will reschedule the 2020 edition of Coachella to October 9th-11th and October 16th-18th, 2020. Stagecoach will also be pushed back to October 23rd-25th.

"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," reads a passage of Goldenvoice's official statement. "While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff and community very seriously."

Riverside County officials had commented that they would allow the event to go on as planned. News of the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Indio broke over the weekend, but rumors that Coachella's organizers planned to cancel have circulated around the festival since as recently as Friday.

Coachella debuted in 1999 at its lifetime home of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. 2000 marked the only other time the annual festival was canceled, and over the past two decades it has grown to become a driving force in pop culture whose influence is felt in nearly every other major festival worldwide.

Goldenvoice has said that tickets for April dates will be honored at the October events, but that instructions to obtain a refund will also be available on Friday, March 13th.