The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has reportedly been postponed to October amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The news was first reported by journalist Yashar Ali and was corroborated by Entertainment Tonight. Billboard.com also reported that organizers will likely know within about 48 hours if the festivals can be saved. The event, which was set to take place in Indio, California, on April 10-12 and April 17-19, is expected to be postponed to the weekends of October 9 and October 16. The lineup was set to include a headlining performance from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. An estimated 250,000 people attend Coachella each year over two back-to-back weekends at Empire Polo Club, about two hours outside of Los Angeles. The news of the postponement comes as authorities in the Coachella Valley region confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. An online petition to call off Coachella this year has garnered more than 16,000 signatures. Stella Young, who started the petition, wrote: "As a highly inclusive community, we are responsible to protect each and every community member, which include the ones who are elderly, fragile, or the ones who suffers from chronic diseases, cancer, immune system diseases and other form of disabilities. The lives of these people should not be downplayed and we shouldn't risk their lives since they have a higher chance catching COVID-19 and develop critical situations that need to be hospitalized." Several other major festivals have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, including South By Southwest in Austin and Ultra Festival in Miami. According to The Pulse Of Radio, South By Southwest, which was scheduled to begin this Friday (March 13), was facing a rising tide of cancelations from artists such as Trent Reznor and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as major companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and others. The three major record label groups were reportedly on the verge of pulling out as well. Until this past week, the virus had mainly impacted the live scene in Europe and Asia. But with rising infection and death counts in the United States, the American industry has begun to see the effects.
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