Coachella postponed until October due to coronavirus concerns
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach, two major musical events held every April in Indio, California, are being rescheduled amid coronavirus concerns.
Concert promoter Goldenvoice announced the postponements on Tuesday. Coachella will now take place on the weekends of Oct. 9 and 16, with Stagecoach following on the weekend of Oct. 23. Goldenvoice said the festivals were rescheduled "at the direction of the County of Riverside and local health authorities." They did not say anything about the lineups changing; Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott, and Frank Ocean are this year's Coachella headliners, with Carrie Underwood, Lil Nas X, and Thomas Rhett performing at Stagecoach.
Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser ordered the postponements, saying in a statement, "This decision was not taken lightly or without consideration of many factors. No doubt it will impact many people, but my top priority is to protect the health of the entire community." Six people in Riverside County have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in nearby Indian Wells was canceled over the weekend due to coronavirus fears. This is a major blow to the area's tourism industry; hundreds of thousands of people attend the tournament every year, and a study found that in 2017, spectators, vendors, and sponsors spent more than $262 million at businesses in the region.
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