Country Music Fans Flock to Town as Stagecoach Kicks Off

INDIO, CA - The Stagecoach Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary by bringing more than 50 country music performers to the desert today, kicking off three days of live sets before a sold-out crowd of about 75,000 attendees at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio.

Eric Church will headline Friday's slate of performers on the "Mane" stage at 10:15 p.m. Church was last featured on the Stagecoach lineup in 2007, opening for the Mane stage headliners that year.

Church's performance will be preceded by 24 other sets across the festival's four stages, including Emmylou Harris, Sam Hunt, Chris Young and more.

Fresh off winning Festival of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this month, Stagecoach looks to please country music fans yet again with three days packed with entertainment.

Outside of the music, the festival will feature a full slate of amenities and activities for both adults and kids.

Those looking to do more than just watch the music can show what they can do at the Honkytonk Dance Hall, which will feature DJs, live bands and dance instructors that will lead crowds through line dancing, square dancing, country two-step, round dancing and the "good, 'ol fashioned country hoedown."

Kids will have plenty to keep them busy at the Half-Pint Hootenanny, hosted by stuntman and illusionist Johnny Hotshot and staffed by the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council and Boy Scouts of America. The Hootenanny will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, featuring live music, animals from Live Animal Barn and the Living Desert, interactive activities from Rancho Mirage's Children's Discovery Museum, art, and more.

The festival will also host its customary annual BBQ Championships with everything from Pig Candy to Moo-Oink Balls on the menu. All previous years' winners will be vending their BBQ items for the public.

Toay's BBQ Contest will be an open competition, with members of the public bringing in their very own dishes to be judged.

Day parking lots at the Polo Grounds will open at 9 a.m., but attendees are encouraged to leave for the festival as early as possible, as local freeway and surface street traffic is expected be heavy. The Coachella Music and Arts festival, which drew about 25,000 more people than are expected today, led to heavy eastbound traffic on Interstate 10 through both Fridays preceding the festival's weekends.

The Indio Police Department will be offering traffic information through the weekend via Nixle.com. Callers who text STAGECOACH to 888777 can receive traffic updates on their cell phones, as well as information regarding weather and safety.

The weather was expected to be hot as usual today, but with a high of only 87 degrees, a much tamer climate than the dusty, windy conditions that greeted Coachella festival-goers during the previous two weekends.

For more information, including festival maps and offsite camping accommodations, visit www.stagecoachfestival.com .

– By City News Service.