High winds disrupted the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Friday night and more winds are forecast over the weekend.
Windy conditions are not unusual for the festival, which attracts approximately 125,000 attendees to the Empire Polo Club each of its weekends, but it is rare to see a performance canceled due to weather.
On Friday night, EDM artist Anima canceled her highly anticipated performance just before midnight on the festival’s biggest stage due to weather.
“Due to high wind conditions impacting Anima’s stage production, she is unable to perform. Coachella and Anima have made this decision with your safety a priority,” the fest wrote in a message on its app just after midnight Saturday morning.
On Friday night, reports emerged on social media showing that Do Lab – a stage on the southern edge of the festival grounds, consisting of shade structures with colorful bolts of fabric – had been closed for the night with yellow warning tape around the area and a speaker that may have been knocked to the ground.
Festival promoter Goldenvoice and Do Lab Stage organizers had no comment at the time of publication.
The wind also wreaked havoc on the campsite, with tents, umbrellas and other items blown away.
“Last night was certainly quite impressive. Wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph were reported in the area yesterday afternoon,” said Meteorologist Isaac Longley of AccuWeather. “Unfortunately, that was a time when there were a lot of artists on the main stage, and Coachella had a pretty impressive situation with the tent.”
According to NOAA’s online forecast for the weekend, temperatures in Indio were expected to reach a high of 86 degrees at noon Saturday with winds of 5-10 mph and a low of 56 degrees after midnight with winds increasing to 15-20 mph and changing direction, according to NOAA’s online forecast for the weekend. Winds were expected to blow at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour by the evening.
“As we head into Saturday afternoon and evening, we expect similar conditions and winds to (Friday),” Longley said. “I would definitely consider pitching my tent.”
The forecast for Sunday was cold, with a daytime high of 79 and winds of 10-20 mph. The expected low is 53 and winds may reach 15 mph with gusts as high as 30 mph.
There is also an air quality warning for airborne dust until 5 a.m. Sunday.
