Confederate Flags, Symbols Banned At Stagecoach Country Music Festival

INDIO, CA — As thousands arrived at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival Friday to set up campsites, attendees learned a new rule: Confederate flags were not to be flown at campsites or worn on clothing.

Doing so could get you booted from the festival, no questions asked, and no refunds given, according to the small print in the festival's code of conduct.

The festival promoter, Goldenvoice, banned the display of the emblem "and other divisive symbols" for the weekend, it said. Confederate flag-waving was not allowed at The Resort at Stagecoach nor on the concert grounds.

Any campers or concertgoers will likely be told to take down "potentially offensive campground decorations." If they don't, they'll get kicked out, according to the rules of the concert weekend.

Stagecoach music festival is a "staple with country music fans across America," the promoter said on its website. "Stagecoach embraces the country lifestyle from RVs to line dancing while allowing families, friends and country music lovers to connect."

Displaying divisive and offensive imagery shatters that idea, organizers said.

The website described why the promoter decided to ban the images at the 2022 event.

"Stagecoach provides an inclusive environment and rejects divisive symbols. The Confederate flag and related imagery are prohibited on the festival grounds and in The Resort — this prohibition applies to people, clothing, and vehicles," the website said. "Access will be denied to anyone who does not cooperate with this rule."

According to the promoter's website, "ignorance of the policy is no excuse."

The code of conduct, alcohol policy, and health and safety policy are all listed as "required reading" for attendees.

Patch reached out to Goldenvoice for comment.

In a Facebook discussion regarding a KESQ News Channel 3 report on the flag banning, fans weighed in on the likelihood that the rules would be enforced, and how that would work.

The new rule, first reported by the Desert Sun, was also implemented at NASCAR events beginning in June 2020, "to be more inclusive," the Desert Sun reported.

It isn't just the concert promoter that wants the Stars and Bars furled.

Performers such as Luke Combs and Maren Morris offered their own opinions that offensive flags have no place at festivals.

Combs apologized for a 2014 video "Can I Get an Outlaw" that showed him singing in front of a Confederate flag. He apologized for being "insensitive" to how that emblem made others feel in a 2021 interview with NPR's music critic Anne Power in a discussion on "accountability and the future of country " that was part of the 2021 Country Music Seminar.

"There is no excuse for utilizing such imagery," he said. "As I've grown in my time as an artist, and as the world has changed drastically in the last five to seven years, I am now aware how painful that image can be."

Morris, who is also performing at Stagecoach 2022, said that she has no interest in playing at festivals that allow flying divisive symbols such as the Confederate flag.

Fans such as Stagecoach attendee Gigi Mitchell agree. She launched a petition to remove Confederate flags from the campgrounds.

"As Nascar recently banned Confederate flags, it is clear that Stagecoach could too," she said in a petition two years ago to Goldenvoice. "Flying a racist and hateful symbol at what is supposed to be a celebration of a music community only hurts this great genre."

Others asked for no politics during an otherwise friendly and fun event.

"No politics at a fun concert, please," Carol Vaught said. "Don't like it on either side."