Things got weird at the locals-only sale for Coachella passes on Wednesday – but, it might just lead to making things a little bit easier for desert residents to get wristbands next year.
The festival’s permit with the festival requires at least 1,000 passes for each weekend are sold to local residents every year – which this year meant standing in line for hours. But, with demand for tickets up (previous years did not see all of 1,000 tickets sold), Goldenvoice COO Skip Paige told the Desert Sun organizers are considering selling locals-only passes online again.
“This waiting in line thing might not be the best way,” he told the newspaper.
Videos surfaced Wednesday of disorder prior to passes going on sale.
Coachella fest local sell… This it's crazy ????????
Posted by Vianey González on Wednesday, April 19, 2017
“Everyone said that last year was organized, simple, clean, single file line,” Yazmin Castillo told KESQ. “This year, people were crazy, probably because the line-up is so good this year that everyone wants to go. People were throwing down fences…and there was already a fight at 7 a.m.”
The festival sent a statement to the TV station regarding the incident:
“Crowds were larger than expected (and larger than weekend 1 resident sale). There were some minor crowd control issues which were handled quickly. Not everyone was able to get a ticket.”
