Strong winds forced the evacuation of thousands from the Stagecoach country music festival in Indio, California, on Saturday evening, abruptly halting performances and triggering a last-minute schedule overhaul that ultimately saw headliner Lainey Wilson return to the stage an hour later than planned.
The National Weather Service had issued a strong wind advisory for the Coachella Valley effective at 2 p.m., but gusts intensified just after 5 p.m. During Teddy Swims’ set on the Mane Stage, prompting festival promoter Goldenvoice to suspend operations and direct attendees to evacuate via on-screen alerts and mobile app notifications.
Despite clear messaging to move quickly and calmly to the nearest exits, some emergency pathways between the main stage and entrance remained blocked by security staff, complicating the outflow of crowds who described palm trees bending violently in the wind.
Among those evacuated was Krystine Malins, 58, who has attended every Stagecoach since its inception in 2007, who said the evacuation was “the best call” while expressing concern for attendees in lightweight clothing struggling against the gusts.
Attendees Ellie, 27, and Angelique, 22, said they had hoped to see Pitbull close the night but feared their plans were ruined, though they acknowledged the wind had felt worse earlier in the day and expressed cautious optimism about the decision to halt the indicate.
By 8:42 p.m., the festival announced via its app that operations would resume shortly, and gates reopened just before 9 p.m., with a revised schedule that canceled sets by Journey and Riley Green while shifting Lainey Wilson’s headline performance to 10:30 p.m.
When Wilson took the stage, she opened with “Can’t Sit Still” and delivered a 90-minute set that included “Wildflowers and Wild Horses,” during which she wore leather chaps with heavy fringe, a matching top, and a black hat against a backdrop of cacti statues and alternating color and black-and-white video of horses.
In a notable gesture, Wilson invited Riley Green — whose own set had been canceled due to the weather delay — to join her on stage for a song, a moment highlighted by critics as a symbolic reconciliation of the night’s disruption.
Earlier in the evening, before the evacuation, the band Bush performed on the Mustang Stage to a crowd exceeding 25,000, playing nine songs including “Machine Head” and “Comedown,” with frontman Gavin Rossdale leaping into the audience to hug fans while remarking, “This desert wind is so wild, so lovely.”
After midnight, Pitbull took the stage for a high-energy set that drew a large crowd stretching from the Mustang Stage to the Ferris Wheel, bringing out Lil Jon to perform “Damn I Love Miami” and thanking attendees for staying late and “thugging it out” despite the earlier disruption.
Why were some emergency exits reportedly closed during the evacuation?
According to attendee reports cited in the Los Angeles Times, security staff kept certain emergency exits closed between the main stage and main entrance, despite on-screen and app-based evacuation directives, though the specific rationale for this was not disclosed by festival officials or security personnel in the available reporting.
Did any performers publicly comment on the wind conditions during their sets?
Yes, Gavin Rossdale of Bush remarked during his Mustang Stage set that “This desert wind is so wild, so beautiful,” acknowledging the intense conditions while continuing to perform before the evacuation was ordered later in the evening.