Coachella Rescheduling Rumors Ramp Up After Bloomberg Report

Coachella Main Stage in Indio, California, USA
L-Acoustics – Coachella Main Stage in Indio, California, USA

A report in Bloomberg says that Coachella organizers are asking artists to play the industry-leading Southern California festival in 2021 rather than the already-rescheduled October dates, which were announced in early March as North America’s biggest yearly concert event was one of the first to reschedule due to the coronavirus.

While surely every major concert still hoping to take place in 2020 is working tirelessly to secure backup dates or a contingency plan of some sort, Bloomberg’s report that artists are being asked to play 2021 “instead” of 2020 suggests the event may soon officially reschedule again.
Agents and organizers immediately reached by Pollstar either declined to comment or said they were unaware of any rescheduling. However, in recent weeks booking agents and artist managers have noted the possibility of the October event not taking place with so much still unclear regarding mass-gathering restrictions, which provides a compounded challenge when trying to reschedule tours.
Promoter Goldenvoice rescheduled the initial event, and its country-sister event Stagecoach, from April 10-12 and 17-19 to Oct. 9-11 and 16-18, while country music sister event Stagecoach was moved to Oct. 23-25 at the same Empire Polo Grounds site in Indio, Calif.  
Coachella headliners include Frank Ocean, Travis Scott and a re-formed Rage Against The Machine, whose big reunion tour guest starring Run The Jewels was rescheduled to summer 2021. 
The lineup is filled with dozens of the usual multi-genre buzz-worthy top-tier artists it has been known for, including Charli XCX, Conan Gray, Doja Cat, Lana Del Rey, Flume, Orville Peck, and many others.
Coachella has historically been the highest-grossing annual festival in North America by a mile. It reported a gross of nearly $114.6 million on 250,000 tickets in 2017. Stagecoach grossed nearly $25.4 million on 72,000 tickets in 2016. 
The coronavirus shutdown has impacted many large-scale festivals, with major annual events like New Orleans Jazz Fest canceling, Ultra in Miami being an early casualty as it was set to take place in March, while hip-hop powerhouse Rolling Loud’s flagship Miami event that typically happens in May moving to February of next year. Others hoping to take place in fall have taken varying approaches depending on numerous factors, with Danny Wimmer Presents’ Louisville Trifesta — Bourbon And Beyond, Louder Than Life and Country Rising — for September being called off in Kentucky, while Electric Daisy Carnival’s Las Vegas rescheduled October dates are still hopeful.