Coachella, the desert music festival is generating a lot of interest with speculations about the lineup of artists this year. Billboard confirms Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons and PJ Harvey Two other acts which are pretty much set to perform are Crystal Castles and Cut Copy, who both have the date listed on their Myspace pages. Two other headliners touted are, Kanye West and Kings of Leon.

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California is scheduled from April 15-17 . Gathered from various sources and the lineup on the Coachella site, here are some hopefuls.

On the bill are Broken Social Scene, Leftfield, Erykah Badu, Robyn, Cee-Lo Green, Nas & Damian Marley, Chromeo, Cut Copy, Elbow, Neon Trees, Jimmy Eat World, Wire, One Day As A Lion, Wiz Khalifa, The Swell Season, Gogol Bordello, Fistful of Mercy, Menomena, Titus Andronicus, Cage the Elephant, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Ratatat, OFF!, CSS, Crystal Castles, Klaxons, and The Drums.

Others: Empire of the Sun, Jenny and Johnny, GAYNGS, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Tallest Man on Earth, Yelle, A-Trak, The Twelves, Caifanes, Magnetic Man, Paul van Dyk, Raphael Saadiq, Ellie Goulding, Boys Noize, The Presets, Warpaint, Flogging Molly, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, and Odd Future. Fanfarlo and Tame Impala.

Started in 1999, the festival has had a chequered history till now. It has slowly gathered a loyal fan base and the last five years has seen the audience base growing.The festival event features many genres of music including alternative rock, hip hop, and electronic music as well as large sculptural art which adds as some eue candy for the audience, the focus till now has been more on music.

The festival allows tents and other set ups on the grounds organized by Goldenvoice (a subsidiary of AEG Live).

The event started when the band Pearl Jam played at the venue to protest against Ticketmasters monopoly of auditoriums in California, it was attended by 25,000 fans and was picked up by the organizers as an alterntative site for concerts. From1999 the official first actual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was held.

From 2002, tenting was allowed and the festival started attracting some big names from 2003 onwards. Acts and Bands which have performed here include Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Tool, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Paul McCartney, The Cure, The Killers, My Bloody Valentine and Morrissey,

The 11th installment of the Festival in 2010 drew a reported 75,000 spectators or more each day. Over the course of three days, the festival attracted an estimated 225,000 attendees. Headliners included Jay-Z, Muse and Gorillaz,

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