Since 2007, the Stagecoach festival has hosted some of the biggest names in country music. It shares an organizer with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and occupies a similar position relative to the genre in question. This year, however, there’s one change to the festival’s policies — attendees planning to bring a Confederate flag with them are going to find it impossible to do so.
Pitchfork reports that the festival updated their policies regarding what can and cannot be brought into the festival. According to the festival’s rules page, attendees can’t bring “divisive symbols, including, without limitation, Confederate flags and racially disparaging or other inappropriate imagery/public displays.”
Also prohibited? Drones, axes and golf carts, among a vast array of other objects.
The country music scene has gone through a long reckoning with the use of Confederate flags in recent years. A 2012 article in The Guardian noted that the flag had gone from ubiquitous to controversial, with some artists who had once embraced it deciding to distance themselves from it.
These debates have continued. At a 2021 event, Luke Combs spoke about regretting his previous usage of Confederate flag imagery. “I want people to feel welcomed by country music and by our community,” he said at the time. Combs is set to headline Stagecoach’s third day, taking place on May 1.
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