Don’t Stop the Party

Coachella to Remain in Indio

Councilman drops plan to tax the music festival.

Crisis averted. Popular music festival Coachella will continue to be held in Indio, Calif., after a city council member dropped his proposal to tax the event. Sam Torres hoped to put a 5-to-10 percent admission tax on the festival, which would have amounted to about $36 per ticket and cost festival promoter Goldenvoice between $4 million and $6 million. But Goldenvoice’s president threatened to cancel the 2014 event and move to a new location for 2015. On Thursday, Torres finally said he would “suspend” his tax bid, because of the potential economic damage if the festival relocated. Coachella sold $47 million in tickets last year and brought more than 50,000 visitors to the community.