Coachella attendees will no longer be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to gain entry to the popular California music festival.
The festival announced the change of policy on its website, noting that instead of the jab, attendees can enter with proof of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival.
“After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our festivals recently … we feel confident that we can safely update our policy for Coachella,” the post read.
The move is a reversal from an August announcement by AEG Presents, the live events company behind Coachella, that said beginning Oct. 1 all ticket holders to their events must be vaccinated.
“We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status,” Jay Marciano, chief operating officer of AEG and chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, had said at the time.
“Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again.”
Coachella will take place from April 15-17 and April 22-24.