THURS AM: Stranded Coachella campers have nowhere to go
THURSDAY AM UPDATE:
Stranded Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival campers were being kicked out of at least one parking lot in La Quinta due to a city ordinance banning sleeping in vehicles Thursday morning.
The would-be campers were gathering in local parking lots because they cannot line up for festival campsites due to forecast high winds.
KESQ News Channel 3’s Jeremy Chen reports Riverside County Sheriffs Deputies were ordering would-be campers to leave the parking lot outside the La Quinta Walmart store off Highway 111 early Thursday morning.
Watch KESQ News Channel 3 for live coverage and reaction from the scene.
Indio Police said that city would be lenient while trying to find alternate accommodations for campers.
Many initially planned to enter the Coachella Festival campgrounds at 9 a.m. Thursday, but now won’t be allowed in until 3 a.m. Friday, 18 hours later.
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People hoping to camp out at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival are going to have make some major travel changes this weekend. According to Coachella’s website, the opening of camping for weekend 2 of the festival has been delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
“The National Weather Service has issued a severe high wind warning beginning Thursday morning lasting through early morning Friday.
Opening of camping is delayed. For everyone’s safety camping will now OPEN on FRIDAY, April 20th at 3am (pending safe conditions).”
Weekend 1 of Coachella saw an estimated 40,000 campers pour into Indio to enjoy the festival. The bump back in camping will inevitably make camper arrivals less staggered and more concentrated, loading the roads with a greater volume of drivers in a shorter span of time than originally projected.
“It is strongly encouraged that you delay your arrival until after weather has passed.
Please be aware you may experience high wait times, staging time in your cars and we will not be able to accommodate wait together, camp together. ABSOLUTELY no campsite set ups, no tent canopies or pop-up tents will be allowed to be put up until high wind has passed.
A high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service is set to be in effect from 11 tonight through 2 a.m. Friday, warning of 25 to 35 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph.
“These people are coming to our town and they would normally be camping and now they’re not, and they may need to seek refuge in parking lots because they might be coming here and have nowhere really to go,” said Sgt Dan Marshall of the Indio Police Department.
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