Coachella, Stagecoach Music Festivals Canceled: 2021 Dates Set

PALM DESERT, CA — The Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, which were previously canceled outright for this year due to COVID-19, are both set to return in April 2021, organizers announced Thursday.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is now scheduled for the weekends of April 9-11 and April 16-18, and Stagecoach, its three-day country music sister festival, will return April 23-25, according to event promoter Goldenvoice.

"This is not the future that any of us hoped to confront, but our main focus remains the well-being of our fans, staff, artists, desert partners and everyone involved in the festival," the company said in a statement.

Coachella, which brings upward of 250,000 fans over two weekends to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, was originally set for April but postponed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was then rescheduled for the weekends of Oct. 9-11 and Oct. 16-18, while Stagecoach was rescheduled for Oct. 23-25.

On Wednesday, Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser signed an order nixing the festivals for 2020 entirely, citing fears the coronavirus could worsen by the time the festivals rolled around.

"Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward," Kaiser said in a statement.

All passes for this year's festivals will be honored in 2021, according to organizers.

Current pass holders will be sent an email by the end of the day on Monday, June 15, with instructions on how to request a refund.

Headliners for next year's festivals were not immediately announced, and it was not immediately clear if the headliners scheduled for the 2020 festivals would retain their spots next year.

Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean were set to headline Coachella, while Lil Nas X, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson and ZZ Top were scheduled to headline Stagecoach.