Final weekend of 2016 Coachella Festival begins
Thousands of people will again flock to Indio Friday for the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — three days of entertainment amid heat, wind and traffic. LCD Soundsystem, Guns N’ Roses and Calvin Harris will continue their headlining duties on the Coachella Main Stage.
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LCD Soundsystem will perform at 11:10 p.m. Friday, continuing the band’s first run of performances since 2011. The group took to the stage last Friday, performing a number of their greatest hits, along with a cover of fellow headliner Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain.” In addition to new tour dates, the band will be releasing a new album sometime this year.
Friday’s other scheduled performers — such as Ellie Goulding, M83, Sufjan Stevens and Purity Ring — are expected at nearly the same times as last weekend, outside of a few opening acts that have been swapped out for the second weekend. Softest Hand will replace Versis on the outdoor stage, while Cosmic Crates replaces Synergy on the Mojave stage on Friday.
DJ Sasha, who was set to perform at 8 p.m. last Friday before canceling due to “a personal medical emergency“ according to the festival’s Twitter account, remains out of Friday’s lineup.
Gates will open at the Empire Polo Grounds at 11 a.m., but many fans headed to Indio far earlier than that, with car camping opening near the venue at 9 Friday morning.
Caltrans urged motorists to avoid Interstate 10, which saw especially heavy traffic last Sunday night and Monday morning, as motorists sluggishly emptied out of the Coachella Valley following the festival’s first weekend, clogging the highway through much of Monday. State Routes 62 and 74 were identified as two possible detour routes by the agency.
Festival-goers were also encouraged to stay hydrated for another round of desert weather, with highs expected in the low 90s. Gusty winds last Friday and Saturday contributed to dust clouds that had
many bundling up despite the heat, at least in order to cover their face and eyes. But the conditions did not put too many of the weekend’s attendees out of commission.
“We had a little dehydration requiring medical aid,” said Indio Police Department Sgt. Dan Marshall. “When it’s windy here we have allergies and breathing treatments.”
Windy conditions are expected once again this weekend, with the National Weather Service issuing a wind advisory for the Coachella Valley, effective at 5 p.m. today. West to southwest winds ranging from 25 to 35 mph are expected, with gusts of up to 60 mph. The advisory is set to expire at 5 a.m. Saturday.
Indio police arrested 128 people throughout the first weekend of the festival, up from 93 first weekend arrests in 2015 and on pace to overtake the 2015 festival’s 226 arrest total.
Most of the arrests were for possession or intoxication involving alcohol and/or drugs. Marshall said increased enforcement targeting minors trying to buy alcohol with fake IDs led to the uptick in arrests. Disney’s “Lab Rats” star Kelli Berglund was among those arrested for allegedly carrying a fake ID.
Other celebrities spotted at the festival’s first weekend included Taylor Swift, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Paris Hilton.
