Organizers of Stagecoach, the country music festival and sister event to Coachella, have banned the Confederate flag from the 2022 festival grounds, according to The Desert Sun. A rules page for the event says that attendees may not have “divisive symbols, including, without limitation, Confederate flags and racially disparaging or other inappropriate imagery/public displays.”
Stagecoach is a Goldenvoice-promoted festival. The 2022 Stagecoach Festival begins today (April 29) at Indio, California’s Empire Polo Club—the same venue as Coachella. Headlining the festival are Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Combs. Last year, Combs apologized for appearing in a music video that used Confederate flag imagery. “There is no excuse for those images,” he said. “It’s not OK.”
Maren Morris, who is also performing today at Stagecoach, has criticized country music events that allow the Confederate flag on the premises. “At these country music festivals, I see the Confederate flags in the parking lots,” she said last year without naming any specific events. “I don’t want to play those festivals anymore. If you were a Black person, would you ever feel safe going to a show with those flying in the parking lot? No. I feel like the most powerful thing we can do as artists in our position right now is to make those demands of large organizations, festivals, promoters, whatnot. One of the things we can do is say, ‘No, I’m not doing this. Get rid of them….’ There’s no place for it anymore.”
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Stagecoach and Goldenvoice for comment and more information.
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