Coachella, Stagecoach music festivals canceled for 2020 on virus concerns

[June 11, 2020]  (Reuters) - The 2020 editions of the Coachella music festival and its country music counterpart Stagecoach have been canceled due to concerns over a possible autumn resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Riverside County health office said late Wednesday.

"I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall," said the County's Public Health Officer Cameron Kaiser, who signed the order canceling the festivals.

Coachella, one of the biggest music festivals in the world that brings half a million fans to an open-air site in Indio, east of Los Angeles, and Stagecoach were initially scheduled for April, but were re-scheduled for October.

Entertainment news website Billboard had earlier reported https://www.billboard.com/articles/
business/touring/9399221/aeg-layoffs-coachella-limited-capacity-global-tours-next-year that Coachella is unlikely to take place this year, adding that Anschutz Entertainment Group, the parent company of both the music festivals' organizer Goldenvoice, is laying off 15% of the workforce.

Goldenvoice did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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