Stagecoach festival evacuates due to high winds, re-opens two hours later: “We’re back in the saddle”
Stagecoach festival shuffled around 80,000 people from its site after announcing an emergency evacuation due to high winds.
The country festival went off without a hitch on April 24th, where the likes of Cody Johnson, Bailey Zimmerman, Red Clay Strays, Ella Langley, Sam Barber, and Counting Crows played for crowds at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
However, at around 7:46 pm local time on April 25th, things took a turn for the worse. The Stagecoach app shared an update that read, “Due to severe weather, please exit the event site and move to your vehicles or protected areas outside of the event site for safety. Stay tuned for updates.”
At the time of the notification, Marshmello was around 15 minutes into his DJ set at the Honkeytonk tent. Nonetheless, the lights were turned on, and an announcement was made over the speaker.
Over at the T-Mobile Mane Stage, fans were waiting for Journey to begin their performance. Instead of the band, they were met with a sign that read “EMERGENCY EVACUATION”.
From there, some attendees were placed onto shuttles, while others walked off-site and were told that they had to leave for the whole evening.
Half an hour later, a new update was shared, which read, “Please continue to shelter in place. Stand by for the next update.”
An hour after that, a new update from Stagecoach revealed, “We’re back in the saddle”. The festival then posted updated times for Lainey Wilson and Pitbull, which revealed that the festival would go until 1 am instead of the originally planned 11:55 pm.
This update also showed that Journey and Riley Green had had their sets cancelled altogether.
Many of the festival guests online shared their frustration at the news, as those who had been ushered onto shuttles or out of the parking lot found it almost impossible to return.
Post Malone will headline on April 26th. Support acts on the final day include Third Eye Blind, Wyatt Flores, Brett Young, Ty Myers, Warren Zeiders, and Hootie & The Blowfish. Malone made his debut at the festival in 2024, performing country music cover songs.
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