Strong winds cause Stagecoach to be briefly postponed, fans evacuated

Due to high winds at Stagecoach, the festival promoter Goldenvoice paused and temporarily evacuated the festival Saturday night.

The city of Indio, where the fest is located, was under a strong wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service in effect at 2 p.m. Saturday, but the gusts didn’t pick up until Teddy Swims’ Mane Stage set just after 5 p.m.

An “Emergency Evacuation” message showed up on screens on the festival’s Mane Stage saying “the festival is being postponed until further notice. Please move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit.”

As of 8:42 p.m., the festival advised via its mobile app that Stagecoach would resume momentarily. “We are working to open doors and prep the site for your safety,” the alert said. Just before 9 p.m. the gates were reopened.

Stagecoach updated its schedule for the night after the temporary evacuation. Journey, which had been scheduled to play the Mustang Stage, was no longer performing; Riley Green, set to play the Mane Stage, was also canceled. Lainey Wilson, who was set to headline the Mane Stage, was scheduled to play an hour later than originally scheduled at 10:30 p.m.

During the evacuation earlier Saturday, thousands of people poured out of the festival. Despite there being messaging on the screen to evacuate, some emergency exits were still closed by security staff between the main stage and the main entrance. In addition to messaging on screens, the Stagecoach app sent an alert for people to evacuate.

Fans at the festival reported that the winds earlier were much stronger than the evening gusts that resulted in the spontaneous postponement.

“The show was pretty windy when we got there but we went into a saloon to see one of our friends do karaoke,” said Krystine Malins, 58. “When we came out, palm trees were bending in half.”

Malins, who has attended the festival since the first installment in 2007, said an evacuation was “the best call.”

“I just feel bad for these girls walking around half-naked in this wind,” she said.

Two Stagecoach festival attendees, Ellie, 27, and Angelique, 22, sat at tables farther back from the stage watching people filing out of the festival.

“We were trying to see Pitbull at the end of the night, so that’s kind of like our whole night, I don’t know, ruined I guess,” Angelique said. “We were kind of hoping for a refund.”

Asked about whether the wind felt serious enough to stop the show, the pair were cautiously optimistic. “Honestly I would say, yeah [it’s bad], but I feel like there could still be potential for it to go down, but it felt worse earlier,” Angelique said.

Despite the evacuation, the general atmosphere among many festivalgoers was calm as crowds were walking back to their cars.

“I didn’t even know what was going on until I saw the screen [at the Mane Stage] and then I started hearing, ‘Hey they’re evacuating, get out,'” one festivalgoer told The Times. “But then we had to sit it out because there was a clog at the exit. It’s not that bad.”