Stagecoach. Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Stagecoach.
Stagecoach, a Coachella-affiliated country music festival taking place this weekend, has updated its rules to ban attendees from bringing Confederate flags, as The Desert Sun reports. Stagecoach now prohibits “divisive symbols, including, without limitation, Confederate flags and racially disparaging or other inappropriate imagery/public displays.”
Taking place this weekend at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, Stagecoach 2022 has enlisted many artists of color to perform. Smokey Robinson, Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, The Mavericks, and others will take the stage. Speaking with The Press Enterprise, Stagecoach talent buyer Stacy Vee said “We’re building a country music festival for today and how a country music festival should look and sound like today.”
Maren Morris, who is performing at Stagecoach this year, said in 2021 that she did not want to play at festivals that allow Confederate flags. “At these country music festivals, I see the Confederate flags in the parking lots... 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. ”