Michigan Animal Rescue Forced to Change Name of Event By Coachella

Summer means festival season, and with it comes some rather peculiar names. Two of the country's largest music festivals, Coachella and Lollapalooza, see millions of people gather for a weekend of music and fun. Given their widespread acclaim, it's pretty common to see people make spoofs of these names.

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Already this summer, we've seen Picklepalooza, and this weekend, John Ball Zoo is hosting "Otterpalooza" to celebrate its new North American Otter exhibit. While there haven't been any issues with that, one non-profit in Detroit is learning the hard way that making a play on "Coachella" doesn't work nearly as well, and has now been forced to change the name of its fundraiser.

Coachella Takes Issue With "Pawchella"

June 13th in Detroit marks the third annual Pawchella music festival. Since 2024, Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit has hosted their version of Coachella, with a twist. It's still a music festival with live music, food trucks, and more, but the twist is that it is also a weekend of pet adoptions from multiple shelters. Outside of the music and the name, there isn't much else in common.

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That is, aside from the name. Goldenvoice, which puts on Coachella, owns the copyright to the "chella" phrase in the name. As it turns out, it reached out to Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit and requested that they change the name of their event and remove any social media posts related to "Pawchella".

The festival will be advertised as Pawfest going forward, with a rebrand planned for next year. It isn't all bad news, however: the non-profit did receive permission to use the branding for this year, since much of the festival materials are only made now that it's a month away.

While the name is changing, President & CEO Cory Kelly says the "heart of this event has never changed", and the goal of the event is still to support homeless animals however they can.