In a surprise move, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will no longer require 2022 attendees to be fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus, the festival’s organizers announced this week.
The announcement was posted on the festival’s Instagram story. In the announcement, it stated that attendees could show proof of full vaccination or a negative covid test taken within 72 hours of the event.
Previously, Goldenvoice, a partner of AEG Presents, the company behind the festival, had announced that proof of vaccination would be required to enter all of its events. “Goldenvoice will require proof of full vaccination for concertgoers and event staff at all of our venues and festivals. The vaccination policy, limited only as required by law, will be in full effect nationwide no later than October 1, 2021,” the company wrote on Twitter in August. That is the last post shared on the Twitter account since.
The outdoor festival, which is held annually in the Coachella Valley in California's Colorado Desert, draws a crowd of approximately 125,000 people per day over the course of the festival's two weekends. The last festival held was in 2019, as the 2020 and 20201 festivals were scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2022 festival is currently on the books for April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24.
According to a statement posted on Coachella’s website, “[a]fter seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our festivals recently, alongside the rising vaccination rate of eligible Americans, we feel confident that we can safely update our policy for Coachella that allows for negative covid test taken within 72 hours of the event OR proof of full vaccination.” Currently, tickets for the 2022 festival are sold out.
