Earlier postponed Coachella, now cancelled due to COVID-19

FILE: The main stage in 2018 (Photo By Raph_PH – Coachella18W1-10, CC BY 2.0)

The events industry is not safe from the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the “new normal,” causing multiple festivals, concerts, and other crowd-centered events to be postponed and canceled. One of the biggest ones, desert music fest Coachella is one of those which is now marked with “canceled” this 2020.

Riverside County Public Health Officer Cameron Kaiser, through a statement on Wednesday, announced this, saying that he is “concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen this fall.”

“Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward,” he added.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, annually held in Indio, California, was supposed to happen this April and was postponed to October because of the threats of the pandemic. But with it the U.S. being one of the worst-hit nations having more than 2 million cases, health officials decided to cancel it along with its sister event, Stagecoach Country Music Festival.

Kaiser further said that the decision on this matter did not come lightly for he knows that the cancellation of these high-profile events will definitely have a big impact to a lot of people. However, he also said that his priority is to protect the health of the community.

Some of Coachella’s headlines this year included Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott, Frank Ocean. Others who are part of the lineup are Megan Thee Stalleon, Calvin Harris, Lana Del Rey, Madeon, Hatsune Miku, and many more. The event is expected to gather hundreds of thousands of people.