Stagecoach country music festival in Indio was evacuated on Saturday, April 25, and the festival was announced as “cancelled” for a short time.
The festival at Empire Polo Club in Indio was abruptly stopped around 7:45 p.m., with attendees being asked to leave the grounds.
The cancellation resulted in festival-goers missing out on two acts: Journey and Riley Green.
The evacuation was short-lived, however, as after about an hour, people were allowed back for the rest of the show.
What caused the cancellation and will attendees be compensated?
Why was Stagecoach canceled?
The Stagecoach country music festival was wracked by strong winds Saturday night, which caused a cancellation of over an hour and threw the rest of the weekend into question for a period of time.
The National Weather Service reported that the city of Indio had seen winds over 40 mph with even stronger winds in other areas of the Coachella Valley, according to the agency’s San Diego office.
The area remained under a wind advisory until about 11 a.m. Sunday, with winds forecast to continue in force, but slowly come down.
Besides blowing people’s hats off, the winds also brought dust and high particle pollution.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District sent out an alert that warned of “unhealthy” or worse air quality Saturday in the northern parts of the valley, as well as dust that’s “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in other parts of the valley, including Indio.
By about 9 p.m., festival goers were allowed to re-enter the grounds as winds had died down substantially.
Will Stagecoach fans be refunded?
As fans returned to the festival, the question that remained was whether Journey and Riley Green would get their do-over.
While fans of Green would later see the artist appear with Lainey Wilson during her set later the same night, he did not perform his whole set as planned, and it was not be rescheduled the next day.
Journey fans weren’t as lucky, and the band did not appear for the rest of the festival.
The loss in acts naturally led to some grumbling online and questions about the possibility of refunds. So far, festival organizer Goldenvoice has not publicly commented on whether any refunds will be provided, and The Desert Sun is seeking responses to several submitted questions.
However, what we do know, is that the festival’s fine print does not obligate Goldenvoice to provide any refunds as the festival policies posted on Goldenvoice’s website explicitly state that the lineup “is always subject to change (whether due to volcanoes or any other reason)” and that there is thus no guarantee of seeing all billed artists.
However, there is some precedence for Goldenvoice offering fans partial refunds when a portion of a festival has been scuttled by weather. In 2023, the promoter’s one-day Pasadena rock festival, Cruel World, was stopped around 9 p.m. after severe weather was seen on radar in the area. Performances by that festival’s headliners, Iggy Pop and Siouxsie, were then held the following day.
But organizers nonetheless announced on Monday, May 22, that the festival would be offering partial refunds to fans who were unable to make the rescheduled Sunday performance.
Contributing: The staff of The Desert Sun. Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: What caused Stagecoach to be evacuated? Will fans receive refunds?
Reporting by Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
