Music
After threats from promoters and city councillors, it looks like Coachella's staying put after all
by Tyler Munro
July 6, 2012
It seems obvious that the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival would do its best to stay in the area it was named after, but for a bit there was legitimate concern that the festival would have to move elsewhere.
It started with Indio, California councilman Sam Torres threatened to tax live events in the area hosting more than 2500 people. Paul Tollet, president of Goldenvoice (the company behind Coachella) heard about the proposed tax, which would ding the festival for $4 million to $6 million and threatened to take 2014 off. Then he went a step further, saying he’d relocate for 2015.
Hearing Tollet’s threat, Torres backtracked, telling NBC Los Angeles “I don’t take a threat by Paul Tollett lightly.”
“I cannot in good conscience allow this to happen no matter how dire the city’s circumstance,” he continued in a statement released today. “My sincere hope is that we can now move past this episode and I personally look forward to working to enhance relationships.”
