Coachella music festival organizers are reportedly in crisis talks to try to save the festival by postponing it until October due to coronavirus fears, but it is unclear whether the scheduling logistics will work out.
The festival’s promoter, Goldenvoice, is in the process now of contacting artists on the schedule to try and preserve the lineup for the weekends of October 9 and 19, according to TMZ.
However, no official announcement has been made, and the festival’s website still lists its dates as the originally scheduled weekends of April 10 and 17. Organizers did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning.
It was unclear whether headline acts such as Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine, and Travis Scott would be available for the proposed dates in October.
The music festival (seen last year), which features dozens of performers spread out over two three-day weekends, is one of the most anticipated dates on the entertainment calendar
Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine is seen performing in a file photo. Coachella music festival organizers are reportedly in crisis talks to try to save the festival by postponing it
Travis Scott performs during the 2019 Rolling Loud music festival. He is one of the Coachella headliners that organizers are trying to secure for the October dates
After three new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Monday in the Coachella Valley, where the festival is held, it seemed extremely unlikely that the event would go forward as scheduled in April — raising the possibility that it could be cancelled entirely if key acts are unavailable to reschedule for October.
Postponing the event to October is a complex undertaking that would involve contacting hundreds of artists, and organizers are likely delaying an announcement until they can determine whether rescheduling is feasible.
According to Variety, Goldenvoice may be trying to avoid triggering cancellation insurance by postponing the festival instead of cancelling it outright.
Industry experts say that most festival insurance policies do not cover outbreaks of communicable diseases, meaning that Coachella organizers could be on the hook for millions if the festival is cancelled.
Michael Rawlings, underwriting manager at Event Insurance Services told the Guardian that outside of animal-based events, ‘very few people would have had the foresight to have insurance against communicable disease.’
The Coachella Valley region confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus on Monday.
The cases were confirmed by the Riverside County Department of Public Health.
Beyonce performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 21, 2018. It is being reported that this year’s festival scheduled for next month is being postponed until October
Dr. Cameron Kaiser, county public health officer, said the three infections were either the result of travel into areas where COVID-19 has been confirmed or contact with a known case.
Two of the individuals have been isolated at home, Kaiser said, while the third is being cared for at a Coachella Valley hospital.
There were growing calls for the festival to be shut down, particularly after the coronavirus outbreak led to the cancellation of SXSW in Texas and Ultra electronic music festival in Miami.
An online petition to shutter Coachella this year quickly garnered more than 16,000 signatures.
‘As a highly inclusive community, we are responsible to protect each and every community member, which include the ones who are elderly, fragile, or the ones who suffers from chronic diseases, cancer, immune system diseases and other form of disabilities,’ wrote Stella Young, who started the petition.
‘The lives of these people should not be downplayed and we shouldn’t risk their lives since they have a higher chance catching COVID-19 and develop critical situations that need to be hospitalized,’ Young wrote.
The above image from last year’s Coachella festival shows an art installation depicting a giant astronaut
This year Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean and Travis Scott are set to headline. The same lineup is expected to perform at the rescheduled Coachella shows this fall
A petition to shutter Coachella this year quickly garnered more than 5,500 signatures
Coachella is a hugely popular festival with social media influencers, who preen in selfies during the two-weekend event.
Each spring hundreds of thousands of festival-goers descend on the grounds of Indio over two three-day weekends.
It typically draws 250,000 people over two weekends.
The country-flavored Stagecoach Festival, featuring headliner Carrie Underwood, is scheduled for April 24-26 at the same Indio venue.
It is likely that if Coachella is postponed, the Stagecoach Festival would also be moved back to a later date.
This year Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean and Travis Scott are set to headline.
If the reports of a postponement are accurate, this would be the second major event in the region that has been either postponed or canceled due to the emerging pandemic.
Professional tennis organizers announced the postponement of the BNP Paribas Open in Southern California.
The announcement has jolted the Coachella Valley’s economy during peak tourist season in the desert.
The two-week tournament’s economic impact to the area topped $400million in the most recent survey done in 2017.
It was set to run Monday through March 22.
Calls to cancel or postpone Coachella grew after Austin, Texas, announced that it was canceling large-scale gatherings, including the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. From left: Queen Latifah, Sophia Bush, Michelle Obama, and Missy Elliott at SXSW in 2016
Another major event in the Coachella Valley, the BNP Paribas Open, was canceled after local authorities confirmed three new cases of coronavirus on Monday. The above image shows Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on Sunday
The city of Miami also ordered the Ultra Music Festival be canceled this year due to the coronavirus outbreak
Based on the survey it has attracted upwards of 450,000 people, including 124,000 from outside the region.
‘It’s one of our biggest events of the year,’ Scott White, president and CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, said by phone Monday.
‘This is a tough one to get through. I think a lot of people were very surprised by the postponement.’
White said the bureau would begin surveying hoteliers and area attractions Tuesday to find out the impact of not holding the tournament at this time after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the Coachella Valley.
He said hotels and restaurants are using enhanced cleaning methods to protect guests and workers.
The Riverside County Public Health Department declared a public health emergency for the desert cities 110 miles east of Los Angeles, including Indian Wells where the ATP and WTA tours were to play the combined event that offers prize money of over $17million.
Riverside County health officials on Monday announced three new novel coronavirus cases in the Coachella Valley, bringing the area total to six.
The US death toll from the coronavirus has climbed to 27, with most of the victims in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to over 680 spread across more than half the states.
On Friday, city officials in Austin, Texas issued a state of emergency that effectively cancelled another major festival, South by Southwest, also known as SXSW, which had been set to take place between March 13 and March 22.
It is just the latest cancellation of a major festival or conference due to coronavirus fears, following the cancellation of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, as well as Facebook F8 and Adobe Summit.
All told, the economic cost of tech events cancelled due to coronavirus has surpassed $1 billion, according to an estimate from ReCode.
An economic impact report found that last year’s SXSW festival, attended by more than 400,000, contributed $355.9million to the local economy, making the cancellation a devastating blow to Austin businesses.
The SXSW announcement comes on the heels of Miami authorities saying they were cancelling the Florida beachfront city’s annual Ultra electronic dance festival — which draws in more than 160,000 revelers – over coronavirus threats.
The March 20 to 22 event was to feature sets from major DJs including Gesaffelstein and Sofi Tukker.
Ultra has also canceled its edition of the festival in Abu Dhabi, which was scheduled for March 5-6.
The epidemic poses a particular challenge for Miami, which relies on tourism especially in March and April, when thousands of young people fly south for spring break.