The Empire Polo Club is a 78-acre (32 ha) polo club in Indio, California in the Coachella Valley of

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

, approximately 22 miles southeast of

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

. Founded in 1987, it has hosted international polo tournaments. It leases out its polo grounds for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival annually for the last three weekends in April.

Location

The club is located at 81-800 Avenue 51 within the city of

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índio ...

, in the Coachella Valley and Colorado Desert of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

.Palm Springs, California: Empire Polo Club
/ref>Empire Polo Club Announces 2015 Winter Season
, ''The Polo Magazine'', 27 September 2014Victoria Pelham
Polo season returns to Empire Polo Club field
''

The Desert Sun ''The Desert Sun'' is a local daily newspaper serving Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley in Southern California. History ''The Desert Sun'' is owned by Gannett publications since 1988 and acquired the Indio ''Daily News'' in 1 ...

'', January 4, 2015 It is around a half hour drive from

and a 2 to 2-and-a-half hour drive from Downtown Los Angeles or

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

History

It was founded in 1987.Empire Polo Club: One of the largest polo clubs on the West Coast of USA
''PoloLine'', October 23, 2014 It has twelve polo grounds, making it one of the largest polo clubs on the

West coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. It hosts local, national and international matches and tournaments. In 2013, it hosted a match between the British Schools and Universities Polo Association (SUPA) and the USPA Intercollegiate/Interscholastic. It has also hosted events for the Gay Polo League.Deborah Deutsch
Chip McKenney, Founder of the Gay Polo League, On How the League Was Born
, ''Equestrian Quarterly'', November 14, 2013 In 2015, it hosted the USPA Townsend International Challenge Cup. The grounds are owned by Alex Haagen III. Since 1993, the Empire Polo Club has leased its polo grounds annually to Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of the

Anschutz Entertainment Group The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports even ...

, the organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Stagecoach Festival.Ray Waddell
Goldenvoice Buys 280 Acres of Land at Coachella Site
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', March 27, 2003Stars of indie, rock & pop take part in the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' On October 30, 31 and November 1, 2009 it hosted Phish held their 8th festival. During which on the Halloween show they performed The Rolling Stones'

Exile on Main Street ''Exile on Main St.'' is the 10th British and 12th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972 by Rolling Stones Records. Recording began in 1969 in England during sessions for '' Sticky Fingers'' ...

in its entirety. On October 7–9 and 14–16, 2016, it hosted

Desert Trip Desert Trip was a six-day music festival that took place on October 7–9 and 14–16, 2016, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, United States. The performers were the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters ...

,Desert Trip website
/ref> a music festival featuring legendary rock performers

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

, Roger Waters and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. On April 14 and 21, Beyoncé headlined the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Beyoncé was the first African American woman to headline the festival and her performance immediately received widespread critical acclaim. Many in the media described the show as "historic," while ''The New York Times'' proclaimed it as "meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical." The performance was nicknamed "Beychella" by fans.

References

{{Authority control Polo clubs in the United States Indio, California Sports venues in Riverside County, California Sports clubs established in 1987 1987 establishments in California