Featured Image Credit: Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Coachella
Topics: Coachella, Music, Celebrity, Justin Bieber
Britt Jones
Topics: Coachella, Music, Celebrity, Justin Bieber
Coachella is no stranger to celebrities breaking rules during their sets, but when it comes to this one issue, they don’t take things lightly.
Coachella is officially over, as the yearly California festival sees celebrities and commoners return home after two weekends of fun came to an end.
However, where there is a group of people, there are typically rules in place to keep everything running smoothly.
But a rule dubbed the ‘golden rule’ isn’t one Coachella goes easy on those who break it.
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Forget social media faux pas, this one is all about how long artists are allowed to perform.
Namely, keeping to the schedule.
If not, they can end up paying eye-watering fines, and they are no small amounts.
In fact, they can even break records...like these celebs who have run up the biggest bills in Coachella’s history.
Bieber headlined Coachella this year, marking his first full concert in the US since 2022.
However, Bieber's performance ended up costing Goldenvoice, the promoter of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and now he’s going to be fined.
A City of Indio confirmed to Billboard that the promoter is facing $44,000 in fines for two of the acts this year.
For Bieber, he broke the rule that the event should conclude by 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, and then12am on Sundays.
Bieber's performance on Saturday (April 18) ended up costing Coachella a $20,000 fine due to the infraction.
There was also Anyma, who ran over his set by nine minutes the day prior.
Anyma's performance on Friday (April 17) ran until 1.09am, costing Goldenvoice a staggering $24,000 in fines.
The agreement with the City of Indio means that the festival must pay a penalty of $20,000 if it goes past curfew by five minutes each day, with another $1,000 added on for every minute after that.
Ouch.
So that was this year.
In 2023, three performers were fined when they ran over their sets.
The city of Indio fined the festival organizers $117,000 after Calvin Harris and two others kept on playing, according to a statement from the deputy city manager at the time.
He went 22 minutes over on Saturday.
Bad Bunny went 25 minutes over on the Friday.
Finally, there was Frank Ocean, who went 25 minutes over on Sunday.
So that's 20, 17, and 20 minutes' of extra fines on top of the $20,000 charge they had incurred by going over.
In 2009 Paul McCartney slapped Coachella with a $54,000 fine for going over curfew, and in 2024, Lana Del Rey's set cost the Coachella promoter $17,000, as well as $20,000 for Travis Scott’s last year.