Stagecoach Festival Canceled for 2020
The annual Stagecoach country music festival has been canceled for 2020 in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Public health officials in Riverside County, Calif., confirmed the news to the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday (June 10), citing the state's reopening guidelines.
Stagecoach 2020 was originally scheduled for April 24-26, and was to feature headlining sets from Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Eric Church. In md-March, as the United States began shutting down and banning mass gatherings to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, festival promoters Goldenvoice rescheduled Stagecoach 2020, and its sister festival Coachella, to October. Both festivals are now canceled for the year.
"I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall," Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser tells the Times. "In addition, events like Coachella and Stagecoach would fall under Gov. Newsom’s Stage 4, which he has previously stated would require treatments or a vaccine to enter. Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward."
Stagecoach has taken place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., every year since 2007. Coachella, meanwhile, began in 1999 and has run every year since 2001, after taking a break in 2000.
Stagecoach and Coachella dates and lineups for 2021 have not yet been announced. Billboard reports, per sources, that Goldenvoice is deciding between staging limited-capacity festivals in April of 2021 or waiting for a full return in October of next year. "The company is holding off on making a decision until they get more clarity on the pandemic's long-term trajectory," according to Billboard.
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