Calvin Harris, along with two other artists, contributed to one of the largest fines in Coachella’s history by violating a significant festival rule.
When you think about Coachella, numerous aspects come to mind, but there’s a particular rule that even the most famous attendees must adhere to.
It’s not about limiting your Instagram live streams to five minutes.
The issue is time-related, though it doesn’t involve social media exposure. Instead, it’s about the duration artists are allowed to perform.
This is due to the festival’s licensing restrictions, which prohibit music from continuing beyond a specific time.
If performers extend their shows past the designated curfew, the festival’s promoters face hefty fines.
These fines are significant, as each minute counts when it comes to Coachella’s curfew.
The festival promoters incur a charge of $1,000 for every minute they exceed the 1am music curfew.
You might think $1,000 isn’t too steep, but remember, this is a per-minute charge.
The curfew is set at 1am on both Friday and Saturday, and midnight on Sunday. So if an artist performs until 1.10am instead of 1am, that results in $10,000 in fines for just ten extra minutes.
It’s even more severe because the per-minute charges kick in only after the first five minutes, which carry a $20,000 fine. So, a ten-minute overrun results in a $25,000 fine. That’s quite a penalty.
Calvin Harris and two other artists incurred a substantial fine by exceeding the curfew.
The city of Indio imposed a massive $117,000 fine on the festival organizers after these artists continued to play beyond the curfew, as reported by the deputy city manager.
Bad Bunny exceeded the curfew by 25 minutes on Friday, Calvin Harris by 22 minutes on Saturday, and Frank Ocean by 25 minutes on Sunday.
This added up to 20, 17, and 20 minutes of extra fines, in addition to the three $20,000 fines for exceeding the curfew, totaling $57,000 among them.
This isn’t the first time Goldenvoice, the festival organizers, have been penalized for curfew breaches. In 2009, they received a $54,000 fine after Paul McCartney, a former Beatle, extended his performance beyond the curfew.