Winds disrupt Coachella
Violent winds hit Coachella and its campgrounds, forcing Anyma to cancel a Friday‑night main‑stage performance as organizers managed safety concerns. (latimes.com). The festival still ran headline nights — Sabrina Carpenter headlined opening night and P‑pop group Bini made a historic appearance during Weekend 1 — while organizers and outlets documented weather‑related disruptions and schedule changes (headliners and dates: on‑site report: ).
Coachella’s first Friday night was thrown off by wind strong enough to cancel Anyma’s midnight main-stage set and tear through nearby campgrounds. (latimes.com) (variety.com) Festival organizers pushed the cancellation just after midnight on Saturday, April 11, saying “strong wind conditions” were affecting Anyma’s stage build at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. Anyma had been scheduled to close the Coachella Stage at midnight on Friday, April 10. (variety.com) (billboard.com) The wind did not shut down the whole festival, but it did scramble the night. The Los Angeles Times reported tents and canopies blown over in camping areas, while social posts and on-site reporting showed the Do Lab area taped off after weather-related problems. (latimes.com) (yahoo.com) The weather warnings were already in place before the cancellation. South Coast Air Quality Management District extended a windblown dust advisory for the Coachella Valley through 5 a.m. Sunday, April 12, and said gusts could reach 50 miles per hour Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning. (aqmd.gov) That advisory was about particle pollution, not rain. The agency said blowing dust could push air quality into “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” or worse at times, with the northwest Coachella Valley expected to get the highest impacts. (aqmd.gov) Coachella is used to heat, dust and wind, but a weather cancellation on the main stage is unusual for a festival that draws about 125,000 people each weekend. AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley told the Los Angeles Times the area saw gusts of 35 to 40 miles per hour late Friday afternoon, right as major sets were underway. (yahoo.com) The rest of Weekend 1 still moved ahead with its headliners. Sabrina Carpenter opened the festival as Friday’s top-billed act, and Justin Bieber and Karol G were scheduled to headline Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12. (usatoday.com) (glamour.com) The lineup also kept producing milestone moments despite the weather. Bini performed Friday and became the first Filipino group to play Coachella, adding a landmark set to an opening day otherwise dominated by dust alerts and schedule changes. (rollingstone.com) (forbes.com) Anyma said after the cancellation that his team had spent a year building the show and was “working on a solution now.” As of Billboard’s report on April 11, he remained on the schedule for next weekend, when the festival repeats from April 17 to April 19. (billboard.com) (coachella.com)
