Coachella Calls for Removal of Nearby STD Awareness Billboard

“CATCH MORE THAN VIBES?” reads text over an aerial photo of Coachella on the billboard.

Coachella organizer Goldenvoice isn’t vibing with a billboard that went up in Indio, California last month. Funded by the Los Angeles nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the design consists of an overhead photo of the annual festival with the text “CATCH MORE THAN VIBES?” superimposed over the top, underscored by a link to resources on testing.

Can you blame Goldenvoice? The promotional juggernaut is understandably eager to distance itself from 2019 headlines that erroneously linked that year’s edition of Coachella to a spike in people nearby seeking herpes treatment. According to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the billboard went up on March 26 and Goldenvoice requested its removal on March 28.

Catch More Than Vibes?

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation put up the billboard last Tuesday and almost immediately, the organization says festival officials demanded for the immediate removal of the advertisement.https://t.co/wp5WjV0x6i
— NBC Palm Springs (@NBCPalmSprings) April 2, 2024

The nonprofit is apparently standing its ground, however. “It doesn’t help anyone to bury their heads in the desert sand and pretend people aren’t having sex,” said President and Co-Founder Michael Weinstein. “We want everyone to use condoms and practice safer sex, but if they don’t, we also want them to know where to get STD tested easily and for free.”

The timing adds insult to injury as Coachella’s first weekend runs from April 12-14, and the second from April 19-21 in Indio. This year’s lineup includes electronic acts such as Peggy Gou, Justice, Charlotte de Witte, and John Summit alongside mainstream names like Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, and Tyler, The Creator.

Coachella inaugurated in 1999, originally as a two-day event. As it expanded to three days — and eventually, six across two weekends — it began selling out sooner and sooner after each year’s lineup drop.

This year, however, Goldenvoice didn’t deliver the lineup until the relatively late date of January 16. Whether due to this delay, lackluster headliners, or broader economic strain, the festival took longer to sell out in 2024 than it has in the past 13 years.

On Wednesday, April 3, AIDS Healthcare Foundation Vice President of Marketing Jason Farmer told the LA Times that he was unaware of any legal action taken by Goldenvoice against the organization.