Coachella Reportedly Moving to October Amid Coronavirus Concerns

The Coachella music festival is the latest big event to be impacted by the coronavirus. The annual event was slated to happen over two weekends in April in California, but is now reportedly being postponed out of fears of the disease, which has infected more than 110,000 worldwide so far. The news was first reported by journalist Yashar Ali, who tweeted out his findings.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter also told Entertainment Tonight that organizers are currently looking to postpone the event to a much later date. This year’s lineup, which was first announced in January, included Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Megan Thee Stallion, Rage Against the Machine, Lana Del Rey and more.

This news comes just days after SXSW had canceled its massive week-long gathering on Friday. The Ultra Music Festival, Emerald City Comic Con and Tomorrowland Winter 2020 in France have all either canceled or indefinitely postponed their events, all citing fears of coronavirus as the sole reason.

Individual acts are also pulling out of their planned tour dates as concerns continue to grow. Most recently, Pearl Jam has stated it will postpone the first leg of its North American tour, which was slated to kick off on March 18. The announcement was made on their official Instagram account.

“So we are being told that being part of large gatherings is high on the list of things to avoid as this global health crisis is now beginning to affect all of our lives,” the caption read. “Unfortunately, communing in large groups is a huge part of what we do as a band and the tour we’ve been busy planning for months is now in jeopardy… We have and will always keep the safety and well-being of our supporters as top priority.”

Along with Pearl Jam, both Mariah Carey and Avril Lavigne have opted out of touring at the moment, either canceling or postponing their respective dates.

Carey announced a rescheduled date in an Instagram post in early March.

“I’m so so sad to have to announce that I’m postponing my show to November,” she wrote in the caption. “I was so excited to come back to Hawaii on my ‘anniversary month’ but evolving international travel restrictions force us to consider everyone’s safety and well being.”