We're nearing the one-year mark since the coronavirus pandemic was initially announced. In the past year, the pandemic has only grown worse across the world. Unfortunately, things haven't necessarily gotten better, either. The entertainment world has been hit heavily by coronavirus with tours, concerts, festivals, and anything requiring a public gathering being put on hold indefinitely.
This means that Coachella will not be going down. A public health order released by California's Riverside County ordered all festivals that were scheduled to happen this spring would have to be canceled. The order explains that festivals like Coachella are international tourist attractions that would likely spike the COVID numbers both in California and across the world.
"[Coachella will attract] hundreds of thousands of attendees from many countries, including several disproportionately afflicted by the worldwide COVID-19 epidemic," the order reads. "If COVID-19 were detected at these festivals, the scope and number of attendees and the nature of the venue would make it infeasible, if not impossible, to track those who may be placed at risk."
Coachella 2021 was set to take place on the weekends of April 9th to 11th and 16th-18th. The 2020 edition of the festival was postponed to October last year before being canceled entirely due to the severity of the virus.
Most recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom lifted the statewide stay-at-home order due to numbers decreasing.