After much speculation, Coachella 2012 is scheduled to go forth as planned following vote by the Indio city council to approve the city’s two year contract with festival promoter, Goldenvoice. The festival will take place at Indio’s Empire Polo Field on April 13-15 and April 20-22.
Under pressure from neighboring city La Quinta, Indio’s city council expressed concerns over traffic, noise, pollution, and crime associated with the annual festival.
This year’s festival also extended the traditional single weekend event to two in an effort to accommodate the high demand seen at last year’s event. The doubling of potential festival capacity aroused neighboring town La Quinta’s concerns over environmental and security issues associated with the festival.
La Quinta officials were ultimately persuaded to drop their request for a potentially lengthy environmental review after Goldenvoice offered a new agreement that would address some of the city’s concerns, including “monitoring by an independent third party of air quality, traffic, and noise.” La Quinta approved the contract, with Coachella’s extended dates, on Tuesday, freeing up Indio to sign as well.
The agreement will also extend the popular Stagecoach Festival, to be held next year, April 27-29.
The new contract allocates a portion of the festival’s earnings from both Coachella and Stagecoach to the City of Indio.
The contract’s approval signals an end to a dispute that had festival-goers in suspense, and secures the future of Coachella as a major festival event.
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