Coachella 2020 officially cancelled

We all knew this was coming. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it became impossible for Coachella 2020 to hold, all we needed was official confirmation.

After initially being postponed until October, the 2020 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has officially been cancelled.

The festival promoter Goldenvoice’s parent company, AEG, just made huge cuts across staff due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and statewide stay-at-home orders.

On Monday, the company laid off 15 per cent of its workforce, furloughed over 100 people, and instituted 20 to 50 per cent pay cuts, per an internal note obtained by Billboard.

Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr Cameron Kaiser decided to cancel Coachella and Stagecoach Music Festival amid concerns that COVID-19 could get worse later this year.

“Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward,” Kaiser said in a statement on Wednesday (June 10).

“These decisions are not taken lightly with the knowledge that many people will be impacted. My first priority is the heat of the community.”

According to Kaiser, if COVID-19 were to be detected at these festivals which host hundreds of thousands of people from around the world

“the scope and number of attendees and the nature of the venue would make it infeasible, if not impossible, to track those who may be placed at risk.”