Coachella Fest Lineup 'A Hoax' Says Festival Promoter

Coldplay were among the artists being reported as possibly playing the 2005 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. But the festival promoter says the media are falling victim to a giant hoax.

"That’s all wrong online," said Paul Tollett, managing partner of the Los Angeles-based Goldenvoice company. "Some kid did that to be funny."

Filter magazine, which has been a major presence at past Coachella festivals, even passing out free compilation CDs to festivalgoers, reported on its Web site Friday that New York City alternative radio station K-ROCK has said Nine Inch Nails is "rumored" to headline the festival.

The venerable British music magazine NME "projected" headliners to include Bowie, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and R.E.M. The festival has been rumored to be scheduled for the weekend of April 30 through May 1.Filter said the Australian Web site Undercover "alleged" the festival would take place that weekend with a lineup including The Streets, P.J. Harvey, Polyphonic Spree, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Tears for Fears. But the Undercover Web site was under construction Friday.

Mark Graves, director of communications for the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Conventions & Visitors Authority, said in November he heard the festival was going to happen April 29 through May 1 at the Empire Polo Field. He said one hotelier was inquiring about the dates. Last year, hotels within 25 miles of the polo field sold out on the Coachella date months in advance.

The festival eventually drew more than 50,000 people a day for acts including The Pixies, Radiohead and The Cure. But Gary Sherwin, vice president of market development for the CVA, said his agency has heard "three or four different dates" and its member hotels haven’t reported any unusual activity related to the Coachella.

Tollett said the dates have not been confirmed and probably won’t be announced until the beginning of the year. He said he’s not sure when Goldenvoice will announce the first acts. The festival Web site, www.coachella.com, still contains last year’s information.

Sherwin said the online rumors are evidence that the Coachella has arrived as a major annual tourism event. "The event last year passed from interesting and unusual to a legitimate, big-time event -- one of those major events that comes to the valley each year," he said. "Hotels now begin to anticipate it and hold rooms and also begin to adjust rates for it."