Stagecoach Festival was briefly evacuated Saturday night after high winds forced organizers to halt performances and clear the festival grounds, prompting significant changes to the evening’s lineup — including the removal of Journey from the bill.
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Following the disruption, updated set times shared by the festival confirmed that Journey, who had been scheduled to perform on the Mustang Stage, would no longer appear Saturday night.
Headliner Lainey Wilson will instead take the Mane Stage an hour later than originally planned, now set for 10:30 p.m., while Riley Green has also been removed from the evening lineup.
Additional adjustments include Pitbull’s late-night Mustang Stage set shifting from an 11 p.m. start to midnight, running through 1 a.m., and Gavin Adcock — whose earlier set was cut short — now joining the Whiskey Jam All-Star Sing-Along in the Palomino Tent later in the evening.
The evacuation was triggered by high winds that intensified across the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where the festival is held. An “emergency evacuation” message appeared on screens across the site, instructing attendees to “move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit,” while alerts sent via the festival’s official app directed festivalgoers to leave the area.
The disruption affected multiple stages, with the Mane Stage between sets at the time the evacuation notice was issued. Winds had been building throughout the day, with gusts increasing into the evening under a regional wind advisory.
Billboard’s Jessica Nicholson, who was on-site, described the situation unfolding at the Palomino Stage, where Adcock’s performance was halted.
“I was at the Palomino Stage when they stopped Gavin Adcock’s show,” Nicholson reported. “The screens on either side of the Palomino stage lit up red and had a message that said ‘Stage Area Closed, please keep away from this area,’ then it later said to evacuate the area.”
Video from attendees showed large crowds exiting the venue, though the atmosphere remained largely calm as festivalgoers moved toward exits.
Stagecoach later confirmed via social media that the festival would resume shortly, writing that it was “working to open doors and prep the site for your safety,” before reopening the gates later in the evening. Updated set times were subsequently posted across the festival’s social channels, reflecting the revised schedule.
Stagecoach, one of the largest country music festivals in the United States, is held annually at the same site as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and draws tens of thousands of attendees.
