Coachella 2020: Is Coachella still happening?

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival – know simply as “Coachella” – is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert.

Amidst the uncertainty of a musical landscape being drastically reshaped by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coachella has had to reschedule its annual music festival, originally scheduled for 2 consecutive weekends in April, 2019.

UPDATE: There have been rumors that Coachella’s organizers have been contacting the 2020 artists in an attempt to reschedule for 2021, however, there has yet to be any confirmation of this from any official sources.

At the onset of the COVID-19 global shutdowns, Coachella made the initial decision to postpone the annual festival that draws crowds of 125,000 until October of 2020.

Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG, who puts on Coachella, as well as StageCoach County Music Festival, and several others, released the following statement on March 10, 2020:

“At the direction of the County of Riverside and local health authorities, we must sadly confirm the rescheduling of Coachella and Stagecoach due to COVID-19 concerns. While this decision comes at a time of universal uncertainty, we take the safety and health of our guests, staff, and community very seriously. We urge everyone to follow the guidelines and protocols put forth by public health officials.”

At that point, Coachella was rescheduled to two weekends in the fall,  October 9-11 and October 16-18, 2020.

All tickets for the original dates were to be honored for the newly rescheduled event, with refund details to be sent to ticketholders who are unable to attend in October.

Coachella in October 2020

At the time of the original Coachella announcement, many spring music festivals were making the hopeful decision to move to the Fall of 2020.  This seemed a feasible option at the time, with most of the general public hopeful that the pandemic would not last throughout the summer.

Now, as Summer 2020 approaches, the future of music festivals is looking more and more uncertain. 

Most large-scale summer events have been canceled completely, and several Fall 2020 music festivals have also made the decision to cancel their 2020 gatherings altogether.

As of now, there have been no further announcements as to the fate of Coachella 2020 in October.  Based on most outlooks, however, it certainly seems to be a long-shot to expect any gatherings of that size and magnitude to commence at any point this year.

That being said, Coachella has long been an innovator in festival experiences, and may still come up with a safe solution to hold its annual music and arts festival.

Coachella 2020 Tickets

Coachella was quickly sold out at its original dates in April 2020. 

All customers holding tickets to the April dates have had their Coachella tickets transferred to the new dates in October 2020. 

Coachella is offering refunds (see below) to those who cannot attend Coachella 2020 in October, should it still be held at that time.

With that in mind, it seems logical that at some point the ticketing for Coachella may open back up again to take the place of those ticket holders that opted for a refund.

Of course, the 125,000 person 2-weekend capacity might be seriously reimagined to accommodate a large crowd gathering in a COVID-19 world. 

As of now, Coachella has not addressed this.

Coachella 2020 Refunds

According to the Coachella website, refunds to Coachella 2020 will be granted to ticketholders due to the COVID-19 situation:

“Coachella ticket holders will have the opportunity to obtain refunds now until June 1, 2020 due to the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus. Please refer to the email you received on/or around March 13, 2020 from the ticketing company that you purchased from on how to request a refund.

If you cannot find the above mentioned email, please contact ticket purchase support: online support or phone support 855.771.3667 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri MST). As a reminder, all original tickets will be valid for the rescheduled dates. If you would like to swap Coachella weekends, follow here.

Thank you for the patience and support. Stay well, stay safe, and we will see you soon.

~Coachella”

Coachella 2020 Dates

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was originally scheduled over 2 weekends in April 2020. 

Originally slated for April 10 to 12 and April 17 to 19, Coachella is now rescheduled six months later, with tentative fall dates on the weekends of October, Oct. 9 to 11 and Oct. 16 to 18.

Coachella 2020 Lineup

The original lineup of Coachella was, as usual, featuring a complete who’s who of pop-rock, alternative, hip hop, EDM, country, and folk.

There have not been any official announcements as to which artists are confirmed for the tentative Coachella dates in October of 2020.

The original Coachella 2020 Lineup included:

Friday

Rage Against the Machine • Calvin Harris• Run the Jewels• Rex Orange County• Megan Thee Stallion • BIGBANG • BROCKHAMPTON• Big Sean• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard• City Girls • Lewis Capaldi • Madeon • Charli XCX • Lane 8 • GRiZ • Chicano Batman • Omar Apollo • Kim Petras • IDLES • Daphni • The Martinez Brothers • Pink Sweat$ • Peggy Gou • Hatsune Miku • TNGHT • Rich Brian • Damian Lazarus • Princess Nikia • slowthai • YBN Cordae • TOKIMONSTA • The Chats • NIKI • Malaa • PUP • The HU • Amber Mark • Code Orange • L’Impératrice • Kyle Watson • VNSSA • Lost Kings • Jayda G • Giselle Woo & the Night Owls • Melé • ela minus • Kynda Black

Saturday

Travis Scott • Flume • Thom York: Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes • Disclosure • 21 Savage • Danny Elfman • DaBaby • Summer Walker • Anitta • Caribou • Joji • Testpilot •Swae Lee • Black Coffee •Cuco • Jai Wolf • Roddy Rich • Yaeji • Koffee • Tchami • Dixon • Hot Chip • Carly Rae Jepson • DJ Koze • Floating Points • Freddie Gibbs & Madlib • BADBADNOTGOOD • Pabllo Vittar • MIKA • ANNA • Snail Mail • Kruder & Dorfmeister • Steve Lacy • Weyes Blood • Masego • Orville Peck • Chelsea Cutler • Seun Kuty & Egypt 80 • Matona • 100 gecs • black midi • Nilüfer Yanya • Chris Leibing • Raveena • Sasha Sloan • beabadoobee • Ezra Collective • Inner Wave • Emo Nite • girl in red • Aya Nakamura • Sama’ • Beach Goons • Fontaines D.C. • The Murder Capital • Paco Osuna • Mannequin Pussy • The Comet Is Coming • Whipped Cream • Anna Calvi • GG Magree • Ellen Allien • ONYVAA • DJ Lord • Sara Landry

Sunday

Frank Ocean • Lana Del Rey • Lil Uzi Vert • Daniel Caesar • FKA twigs • Marina • Louis the Child • Ari Lennox • Fatboy Slim • Banda MS • Lil Nas X • Mura Masa • Duch Sauce • Jessie Reyez • SLANDER • Denzel Curry • J.I.D. • Ленинград (Leningrad) • Epik High • Duke Dumont • Lauren • Daigle • Conan Gray • Bedouin • Bishop Briggs • (Sandy) Alex G • Big Wild • Alec Benjamin • Noname • YUNGLBUD • Dave • SebastiAn • Kygary Pamyu Pamyu • Emotional Oranges • Channel Tres • Crumb • Doja Cat • Ed Maverick • Ali Gatie • Hayden James •Skegss • Monolink • Dom Dolla • Satori • Black Pumas • Sampa the Great • Altin Gün • Luttrell • Nathy Peluso  • Olivia O’Brien • Mariah the Scientist • Viagra Boys • Cariño • Adam Port • Guy Laliberté • Detlef • Sahar Z

The Future of Coachella

The immediate future of all music festivals is currently in doubt, and Coachella is certainly no exception.

In fact, with an attendance of over 125,000 each year, it seems that Coachella and other festivals of that immense size are going to be the hardest hit in a post-COVID musical landscape.

As some smaller music festivals begin to reemerge from the pandemic cancelations, Coachella and its counterparts may lag behind.

Or, Coachella will reinvent itself and pave the way to the “new normal” in large-scale music festivals.

For now, we will have to wait and see!