Stagecoach festival attendees are expressing outrage on social media after being evacuated from the site due to high winds and then finding themselves unable to return when the event resumed.
Evacuation and Confusion
The country music festival, held this weekend at the same Southern California venue as Coachella, featured headliners Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, and Post Malone. An estimated 75,000 to 80,000 fans were ordered to evacuate on Saturday evening as strong winds swept through the area.
According to Variety, the official Stagecoach app issued an alert at 7:46 p.m. stating: “Due to severe weather, please exit the event site and move to your vehicles or protected areas outside of the event site for safety. Stay tuned for updates.” Similar messages were displayed on screens throughout the festival grounds.
At 8:52 p.m., the festival’s social media account posted: “Show Update: The show will resume. We are working to open doors and prep the site for your safety. Stay tuned for updates.” By that time, thousands of fans had already left the site and were unable to re-enter.
Fan Reactions
On X, one user responded to the announcement that the show was back on by writing: “but I evacuated… like you told me.” Another posted: “You can’t ask 85k people to evacuate and then go Oops! UNO reverse, come back.” A third added: “Staff were telling people the show was done for the night and cancelled. Not just ‘postponed’. I expect a lot of people will be asking for refunds.”
Another fan argued in a longer post: “The legal issue isn’t ‘weather happened.’ It’s that Stagecoach knew high winds were expected, let people in after a casual noon warning, gave no escalating contingency/re-entry instructions, then issued a full emergency evacuation saying the festival was ‘postponed.’” The fan continued: “For shuttle/rideshare attendees, complying meant entering a one-way exit system. By the time they later reopened, return wasn’t just inconvenient — it was functionally impossible. Reopening doesn’t cure that. Stagecoach’s own communications and logistics denied access to the resumed show for a large class of people who followed official safety instructions.”
Schedule Changes and Ongoing Weather Concerns
After the show resumed on Saturday, both the classic rock band Journey and country singer Riley Green were removed from the schedule. However, headliner Lainey Wilson’s set did go ahead as planned. Strong winds are also forecast for Sunday, as the festival continues with Post Malone expected to headline Sunday night. The Independent has approached Stagecoach for comment.
