Coachella 2019
Coachella 2019
April 25, 2019
This year, Coachella celebrated its 20-year anniversary at the Empire Polo Club in Indio California from April 12th-14th, and April 19th-21st. The music festival, organized by Goldenvoice, hosted 160 different musical performances and was headlined by Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, and Ariana Grande.
On Sunday, Justin Bieber joined Ariana Grande onstage towards the end of her performance for a duet; this was the first time Bieber has performed onstage in 2 years. During the performance, Bieber sang his 2015 hit, “Sorry”, and at the end, announced that he will be dropping an album soon.
The South Korean girl group, BLACKPINK, also performed at Coachella and became the first K-Pop group to perform at a music festival in the United States. The group was spotted throughout Coachella spending time with various celebrities including the Smith family, Ariana Grande, and Nina Dobrev.
On Sunday morning, in celebration of Easter, Kanye West performed his Sunday Service for people attending Coachella. Sunday Services are private weekly concerts that feature musical artists hosted by Kanye West and Kim Kardashian that fans can stream on social media. West was supposed to headline Coachella this year but backed out when he was refused a giant dome for his performance.
There are some people, including celebrities, who are openly against Coachella because the founder, Philip Anschutz, allegedly donated money to anti-LGBT and pro-gun organizations. Last year, model Cara Delevingne expressed her opposition of Coachella on her Instagram story: “I...refuse to go to a festival that is owned by someone who is anti-LGBT and pro-gun.” Actor Ewan Mcgregor’s daughter Esther, also expressed her disapproval of Coachella on Sunday, when she posted a now deleted Instagram picture with the caption: “#notokaycoachella. I’ll take the time now to say — I’m bisexual.”
Last year, following rumors of his donations to anti-LGBT organizations, Anschutz made a public statement where he clarified that he supports the LGBT community and opposes discrimination against it. Anschutz also added: “I regret if any money given to a charity for other purposes may have indirectly worked against these values. That was not my intention, it does not reflect my beliefs, and I am committed to making sure that it does not happen again.” Coachella’s co-founder, Paul Tollett, has even said that Anschutz has donated to organizations that support the LGBT community.
Despite the anti-LGBT allegations surrounding Coachella, this year, there were performances by many LGBT performers and allies of the community including Ariana Grande, who ended her Coachella performance by waving around a pride flag, Janelle Monae, and Lizzo.
When asked why she was performing at a festival that is supposedly anti-LGBT, rap artist, Lizzo, who is openly queer, explained that most major organizations are run by “bigoted millionaires that donate to bigoted organizations.” She also went on to say “…my activism is to disrupt those spaces and spread my message to thousands of people…Can’t wait to dismantle the hate that funds this country.”
The dates for Coachella 2020 have not been decided yet, but they are expected to be released at the end of May; tickets will go on sale a few days after that. Next year’s lineup will be announced in January.
