Those looking forward to the party that is Coachella are going to be disappointed as the famous music festival’s 2020 staging has now been officially canceled.
The Los Angeles Times reports that rather than the originally planned October reschedule, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as well as the Stagecoach country music festival will be canceled instead. This is the first time that Coachella will not be held since 2001.
Coachella and Stagecoach’s cancelation came about because of the warning put out by Dr. Carmen Kaiser, who is the public health officer of Riverside County. According to Kaiser, there are indications that fall will see a rise in COVID-19, thereby making it impossible to stage both music festivals until early next year.
Kaiser also pointed out that in California Governor Gavin Newsom’s outline for reopening the state, events like Coachella are grouped under Stage 4, meaning they cannot be held until there are already vaccines or treatments available to the public.
As pointed out by Rolling Stone, the Coachella and Stagecoach cancelation is just the most recent in a long list of event cancelations. Other festivals that had to cancel their 2020 editions include the Lollapalooza Festival, South by Southwest, and the Ultra Festival. Bonnaroo and the Electric Daisy Carnival also both canceled their 2020 editions.
The cancelations are a big blow to AEG, the company that organizes Coachella and Stagecoach. The global coronavirus pandemic has already made the company institute pay cuts ranging from 20 to 50 percent as well as lay off 15 percent of its workforce.
Dan Beckerman, AEG’s chief executive, revealed to Billboard that refund requests from about 40 percent of the ticket buyers are already coming in. He also said that if Coachella and Stagecoach would be held in April 2021, it would be at about 60 percent capacity. However, all of that still depends on whether the global coronavirus pandemic has slowed down by then.
However, the numbers are not encouraging, if reports from health organizations are to be believed. The June 10 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the United States currently has 1,973,797 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with new cases making up 17,376 of that total. Deaths from COVID-19 are currently at 112,133 people.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s June 10 situation report reveals a staggering number when it comes to worldwide COVID-19 infections. According to the report, there are currently 7,145,539 confirmed COVID-19 cases globally. Deaths caused by COVID-19 is now at 408,025 people.