Indio City Council has voted to allow as much as 62,000 more people to attend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach.
Already two of the biggest festivals in the world, Coachella Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach have been voted by their hosting city council to raise their population cap by 62,000. With the original attendance caps for Coachella and Stagecoach at 99,000 and 75,000 that puts the new cap of these two festivals at 125,000 and 85,000 . With the proposal placed by Goldenvoice, the festival promoter got a exactly than what they bargained for. The original proposal was approved by the city council on a 3-0 vote.
Mayor Pro Tem Elaine Holmes didn’t have to cast a vote due to her owning a rental property close to the festival grounds. Councilwomen Lupe Ramos-Watson also got out of voting, saying that while she did not have a conflict of interest for the vote, she was going to not take part, as reported by Desert Sun.
Councilwoman Lupe Ramos-Watson also rescued herself, saying that while she didn’t have a conflict of interest for the vote, she was not going to take part.
Mayor Glenn Miller assured that the increased capacity would have to be gradual over time in an attempt to help the city get used to such an extreme expansion of crowds.
“I think overall it’s not going to have too much affect,” Miller told The Desert Sun prior to the meeting. “We’ve been working on this for a little while with the (Environmental Impact Report) … so I don’t think you’re going to see much of an impact.”
But the city wouldn’t have to be the only one to make plans to help host this population boom. Goldenvoice has already made plans to expand the size of the venue by about 50 acres. The expanse would bleed over into Monroe Street, Avenue 50, Avenue 52 and Polo Road.
“We know that with the demand we have, we could do four Coachellas,” Goldenvoice Vice President Skip Paige said to Desert Sun. “We could do five Coachellas with the amount of people that want to come to that show.”
Aside from the increased traffic and overall headache that a festival crowd like this can bring, the most effective trade off is the amount of increased revenue. With this jump of 62,000 extra people buying tickets, the city of Indio will bring in about $1 million in extra ticket taxes. This year, with the original attendance cap, the city should bring in $3.18 million.
“I think it’s going to be good for the residents overall with the tax dollars that are going to be coming in and the jobs it’s going to create in order to be able to provide more services and put more money back into the community,” Miller said.
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