After a series of one-year postponements, Coachella and Stagecoach are moving again, to April 2022, said a source close to the situation Rolling Stone.
Variety was the first to report the change on Wednesday night, and Rolling Stone confirmed the change. Coachella was originally supposed to take place in the spring of 2020, but the California music festival announced a move to October 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to close events in the United States. Then it moved the two-week date block to April 2021, as the pandemic progressed. But Coachella had to drop those plans, too, after Riverside County health officials canceled spring dates. While several sources said they expected a change for October 2021, Goldenvoice this time held back the announcement of new dates.
The source counts Rolling Stone that Goldenvoice contacted them directly and noted that the promoter would officially announce the 2022 dates on Friday, and that Goldenvoice would issue a refund period so that fans could get their money back. But, the source notes, this is not the first time Goldenvoice has told other industry participants about new developments at the last minute, and the promoter may decide to postpone the announcement of a change until more logistics are blocked.
Representatives of Goldenvoice, Coachella’s promoter, did not respond to Rolling Stonerequest for comment on Thursday.
Coachella is one of the largest and most well-known music festivals in the world, selling hundreds of thousands of tickets each year and attracting participants from all over the world. Although Coachella is unlikely to continue this year, several regional or smaller-scale festivals have announced dates for late summer and early fall: Outside Lands in San Francisco, for example, announced on Thursday that it would happen on the weekend of Halloween this year, while Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas has dates set for September and sold out in record time.
The live music business, which has been inactive for a year since the pandemic began, was encouraged by the Biden government’s more aggressive schedule for vaccinations. Live Nation recently told investors that it expects the outdoor shows to return this summer. A large-scale comeback for concerts and tours, however, still seems more likely for the fall and 2022, said several live music experts Rolling Stone.