Justin Cohen waited long for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival gates to reopen.
How long? The West Hollywood dog walker, 32 years old, bought his ticket in June 2019 from a West Hollywood vendor and has kept it since.
“I remember when it got postponed in March 2020,” Cohen says. “I said right then, ‘When we can go back to Coachella, it’ll be almost like an invisible finish line for us.’”
Michael Recon bought his VIP wristband in June 2021 for the 2022 festival. He was convinced that the world would be safe enough to join 125,000 desert fest fans by April 2022.
But by December, Recon, a senior accounting assistant for Riverside County who moonlights as a dance and choreography instructor, wasn’t so sure.
“I actually thought that things would be a lot better,” the 38-year-old Moreno Valley resident says. “A lot of things are opening up and everything, but I’m still cautious.
“I don’t think we’re at like herd immunity yet, and I think that’s a big deal,” Recon says. “I mean, we’re still out in the open but you never know.”
Recon decided that he would sell his wristband to be able to watch the Coachella finale.
The festival opens Friday. For the next three weekends, two for Coachella and one for Stagecoach Festival, tens of thousands will gather in front of the stages as well as inside the tents located on the Empire Polo Club grounds.
The festivals will be full and festivalgoers, performers and artists will be delighted to be back. But no one can guarantee that COVID-19 won’t be present in the Coachella crowds this month, as festival organizers Goldenvoice made explicitly clear on the festival’s website.
“There is an inherent and elevated risk of exposure to COVID-19 in any public place or place where people are present,” Coachella.com boldly proclaims. “And there is no guarantee, express or implied, that those attending the festival will not be exposed to COVID-19.”
In other words, you’ve been warned.
Perspectives on public health
The 2022 Coachella lineup, which featured headliners Harry Styles and Billie Eilish in January, required that festival attendees wear masks and show proof of vaccination. This was based on state regulations for large events.
After a sharp fall in COVID-19 cases, a month later, the state relaxed its vaccination and mask rules and Coachella organizers removed the requirement for both.
Riverside County Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari, in an interview Tuesday, said that while theres concern any time a large group of people gathers, the risk of Coachella and Stagecoach becoming super-spreader events is a lot less than it was six or seven months ago.”
Although the county’s positivity is low and its case rates are low. The wild card is what these rates are in the areas where festivalgoers come from, Saruwatari explained, adding that she finds some comfort in the partnership with Goldenvoice.
Saruwatari stated that Goldenvoice has been in constant communication with the COVID response team. She stated that the promoter wants to create a safe environment for the festivals.
A private contractor will conduct tests at the polo ground, while a Riverside County bus testing bus will be present for three weeks in the vicinity of the festival. Hours at testing sites close to the polo ground will be increased, Saruwatari stated. People can also visit the testing sites nearby. myturn.ca.govOr www.rivcoph.org/coronavirusFor more information about where to get tested or vaccinated, click here
More information is available on the Coachella websiteThere will be quick, 15-minute antigen screenings at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden or in the Camping Hub.
Saruwatari stated that the county has created a pathway for people who are suspected of having COVID-19 or testing positive at the festivals to be evaluated to determine if they should receive therapeutics.
She urged festivalgoers not to get vaccinated before attending. Saruwatari stated that N95 masks are the best form of protection but that any protection is better than none.
Saruwatari stated that social distancing can be difficult among hundreds of thousands of people but it is encouraged. She also suggested festivalgoers stick with the same group of people to be notified quicker if someone within their group becomes infected.
Festivalgoers may also want to test after returning from Indio, especially if there are family members at high risk for severe illness or death from COVID-19.
Rewards over risks
Few festivalgoers spoke out against Coachella’s return in the age COVID-19.
James Mattone (25-year-old Activision journalist from Santa Monica) decided that Coachella was his first-ever music festival experience.
“I think with COVID it really kind of broadened my perspective a little bit,” Mattone says. The pandemic, he says, made him think he shouldn’t put off dreams in a world where the unpredictability of something like a heretofore unknown virus can turn things upside down in an instant.
“I wouldn’t say that we might not have many Coachellas left,” he says. “But when I look at the future, I want to a family, I want kids, I want to see the world and do all this stuff. There really wasn’t a better time to plop down whatever it was to buy a wristband.”
Angel Chavez, a 29 year-old construction manager and owner of a video production company, has been attending Coachella every year since 2009.
“For me, I’m 100% comfortable,” the Coachella Valley native says of returning to the festival. “I was already wearing a bandana, something over my face. I never really got sick when I started wearing that, and years before, I would get what they called the Coachella flu.”
Chavez, who makes videos about Coachella for his YouTube channel, says he’s well aware of the risks.
“Everybody knows the risk,” he says. “If you’re going to a festival that has 125,000 people, you know the risk at this point in the pandemic.”
He believes that the benefits outweigh all other aspects.
“Once you experience the festival you want to keep going,” Chavez says.
Like Mattone and Chavez, Cohen says he’s fully vaccinated, and also had COVID in December.
“I’m going as if it’s a normal year,” he says. “I’m not overly concerned.”
He claims that he, his girlfriend, and a few close friends are so excited to be back at Coachella, they may even stay for the second week.
“As ridiculous as this may sound, there is nothing that I have looked forward to more, since the pandemic started, than getting back to Coachella,” Cohen says.
As for Recon, he’s comfortable with his decision to sell his wristband and stay home to watch the festival on its livestream.
“I love being in the pit, close to the performers,” he says. “But I think I can wait another year to see live music.”
