Coachella Festival Expanding to Two Weekends

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival will be expanding next year into a six-day, two-weekend event, promoters said Tuesday.

Last year, the festival drew 90,000 people each of the three days, with 20 percent of that crowd hailing from San Diego. 2011 also brought the fastest sell-out, with all tickets purchased in just six days. Next year’s tickets for the April event will go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The decision to add a second weekend, however, does not mean more musical acts. According to a statement issued by promoters Goldenvoice, the same artists will perform both weekends:

“In an effort to try and accommodate everyone who wants to experience the festival, Coachella 2012 will be two separate events, held over two consecutive weekends. We will attempt to produce two identical festival weekends. That means same lineup, same art, same place, different people.

“We know many of you were unable to attend this year’s festival because passes sold out much sooner than anticipated. We were truly surprised by the overwhelming response and remainhonored by your passion and enthusiasm. We also know some of you purchased through non legitimate sources and were inconvenienced, gouged or totally scammed. We hope that these changes will give everyone the opportunity to purchase directly from Coachella.com.”

Next year’s lineup hasn’t been announced yet, but last year’s headliners included acts such as Kanye West, Kings of Leon and Arcade Fire.

Tickets for Coachella, marking its 13th year, will only be sold as three-day passes for $269 plus fees.  No single-day passes will be sold for the third consecutive year. The presale will end next Friday, June 10, at 10 p.m.  Festival-goers will not be able to switch the weekend they attend after purchasing the tickets, but buyers can acquire tickets to both weekends. The advance sale is also the only opportunity to pay using the Coachella Layaway Payment Plan, which requires  10 percent down and eight equal monthly payments.