California’s Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival have both been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic, though music fans may have the chance to head to the desert this fall for a similar concert.
Coachella and Stagecoach promoter Goldenvoice is reportedly considering putting on an event similar to the company’s famed Desert Trip. The festival, which launched in 2016, brought in $160 million over two weekends at Empire Polo Club — the highest-grossing event in the history of Pollstar. During the inaugural Desert Trip, music fans had the chance to see headlining performances from rock icons The Who, Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan.
Indio Mayor Glenn Miller told KESQ News Channel 3 that another version of Desert Trip is “possible,” though conversations are still in-the-works.
“We’re working with Goldenvoice now to see what we can do about hopefully having another concert in October, [a bit] like Desert Trip, hopefully either a two-day or two-weekend concert to help with the economy not only for the city of Indio, but for the whole Coachella Valley and the state of California,” Miller said.
The Mayor went on to note that the music festivals typically bring in funding each year that help businesses; the city of Indio will lose an estimated $4 million amid the festival cancellations. However, he said that the city has a “great relationship” with Godenvoice and Empire Polo Club, so he believes “we will be able to pull this off.”
Now that Coachella – the largest festival in the U.S. – has been called-off, other festivals in the Bay Area are on-the-rocks. Fests like Napa Valley’s BottleRock and San Francisco’s Outside Lands, which were postponed to the fall, may not be able to go on as planned. Other major festivals across the U.S., including Lollapalooza and Summerfest, have been cancelled out of safety concerns.
See our full, updating list of festivals postponed or cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic here.