Coachella Goes Long

Goldenvoice and the city of Indio, Calif., are putting the final touches on a long-term agreement that will keep the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in the desert city through 2030.

Goldenvoice has been renewing its permits every year to bring the Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival to the city’s Empire Polo Ground, and it was not flattered last year when a city councilman proposed legislation what would add taxes to Coachella’s ticket sales.

Indio’s city council voted 4-0, with one abstention, to approve Goldenvoice’s proposal to stage the festivals through 2030. Goldenvoice pitched the proposal with a more than 1,000-page environmental impact report, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Coachella has expanded to two weekends with identical lineups, and Stagecoach is a third weekend – but the proposal expands events to five weekends annually.

This coincides with the sentiments of the city’s hoteliers. A Palm Springs booster group for tourism encourages more festivals and “an increase in attendance for each of the events,” according to the Times.

The proposal is not without its opponents. NIMBYs complained of property destruction by festival attendees, and one said Coachella guests “visited” homeowners with “an urgent need to urinate and defecate in their pools.”