Afrochella won’t be flying coach in this lawsuit.
Ghanian music festival Afrochella, which has been taking place for years, is being sued by the American music festival Coachella and Goldenvoice, its parent company, for trademark infringement. Coachella has built up a significant reputation over the years in the dance music festival world as one of the most legendary, must-attend festivals in the world.
Goldenvoice and Coachella filed a lawsuit in a California federal court on October 5, 2022. The lawsuit was obtained by Pitchfork and claims that Afrochella is “intentionally trading on the goodwill of [Coachella and Goldenvoice’s] well-known COACHELLA and CHELLA festivals and trademarks by actively promoting music events in the United States and in Ghana using the confusingly similar mark ‘AFROCHELLA’ and by fraudently attempting to register Plaintiffs’ actual trademarks as their own.”
Afrochella 2022 is set to take place on December 28 and 29 at El Wak Stadium in Accra, Ghana, with Burna Boy, Stonebwoy, Ayra Starr, Fireboy DML, Black Sherif, and more are set to headline the event.
This isn’t the first time Coachella and Goldenvoice have sued for using the “chella” name. Last year, they filed a separate lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment for contributory trademark infringement. Live Nation Entertainment organized and promoted an event by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians called Coachella Day One 22. According to Desert Sun, they settled the lawsuit earlier this year.
