Budweiser Clydesdales Returning To Riverside County, A Day Late

PALM DESERT, CA — The world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales, along with their friendly beer-wagon Dalmatian, were to make their annual trot down El Paso Wednesday ahead of the 2019 Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, but the event was postponed because two if the horses fell ill, city officials said.

Horse girls and cowboys alike shouldn't fret as the eight draft horses are expected to be well enough Thursday to make the annual journey to Indio's Empire Polo Club, site of the 2019 Stagecoach Country Music Festival, according to a tweet from Palm Desert's tourism account.

Under the protection of their `coach dog,' they will pull a Budweiser beer wagon down El Paseo and make deliveries to restaurants starting at 1 p.m. Thursday, event spokeswoman Chris Clemens said. Before the trot, attendees can see the Clydesdales hitched on the road parallel to Highway 74 just behind the Daily Grill starting at 11:45 a.m.

The event is free and open to the public, but organizers recommend having lunch in one of the many restaurants that line El Paseo to see the famous trot take place.

The horses will be one of the many attractions at the 2019 country music festival headlined by Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean.

Amenities like Guy Fieri's Stagecoach Smokehouse and Nikki Lane's Stage Stop Marketplace, which debuted at last year's festival, will return in 2019, as well as old favorites like the Honkytonk Dance Hall and the Half-Pint Hootenanny.

This year's festival will mark Bryan's fifth Stagecoach performance and the third time he's been billed as a headliner. Bryan is set to headline Friday's show.

Hunt, who will be the Saturday headliner, previously performed in the Stagecoach lineup in 2016.

Aldean will wrap up the weekend with his fourth Stagecoach appearance and his second headlining spot. He and Bryan headlined the 2014 festival.

General admission passes priced at $349 are sold-out, while general admission and shuttle pass combos are still available for $409. The three-day country music festival will be begin this Friday at its usual venue, the Empire Polo Club.

For more information, visit http://www.stagecoachfestival.com.

— By City News Service