Desert Trip, the event that brought the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, The Who, Neil Young and Roger Waters to one polo field in Indio, won’t happen this year.

But founder Paul Tollett said in an exclusive Desert Sun interview on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club, “I can’t rule it out in the future.”

Tollett has not been working specifically on a Desert Trip, he said as the three weekends of the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals drew to a close in April, but he has been keeping an ear open for opportunities.

“I’m just always talking about it with friends,” Tollett said. “If something ever pops up, I’d love to do it again. That was so much fun. But, you can’t force it.”

Weekend 1:Desert Trip copes with Palm Springs tragedy with McCartney, Neil Young

More Weekend 1:Desert Trip draws to a close as The Who, Roger Waters stage a musical duel

Die-hards:Desert Trip fans tell their tales of admittedly excessive rock star idol worship

The October 2016 two-weekend event, nicknamed “Oldchella,” became the highest grossing music festival ever, earning $160.1 million in box office receipts, according to Billboard magazine. The previous record, set by the 2016 Coachella, was $94.2 million, Billboard reported. The 2017 Coachella earned $114.6 million, according to the last available earnings report for that festival.

Desert Trip also interrupted Coachella’s string of awards by winning Pollstar Magazine’s poll for best music festival of 2016. Coachella resumed winning that award the next two years, topping the newly defined category of Best Music Festival Over 30K Capacity in February.

Celebs at Desert Trip:Kate Hudson, Woody Harrelson. Emma Stone hang out in desert

More:Goldenvoice: Desert Trip won't return for second 'once-in-a-lifetime' show in 2018

More:Landlord to Coachella cancels Desert Oasis, meaning no fall music festival in Indio in 2018

Desert Trip created a huge economic windfall for the city of Indio and the Coachella Valley, filling hotel rooms as quickly as Coachella. Its absence in 2017 attracted many other promoters that tried and failed to fill the void, which continued into 2018.

Indio Mayor Lupe Ramos Amith said Wednesday she was aware Tollett wasn’t planning a fall festival in 2019 and noted, “Of course I’m not happy. I’m sad. I was hoping he did have another one.”

But she said she trusts Tollett’s creative bent and expertise in knowing when to produce music festivals.

More:Valley hotel occupancy up this past fall, even without Desert Trip

More:What you may not know about Desert Trip artists

More:Desert Trip stars have links all over the desert

“I think it’s dependent more upon the artists you can put together,” she said. “When Paul does something, he wants to make sure it’s a quality act. He has his eye on a certain experience he wants to put together, he knows what the available talent is that is out there, and he knows the theme he’s trying to put together.

“So, I don’t expect him to do it any sooner than he’s ready to do it. We support him and, when he’s ready to do that, we will be prepared to work with him.”

Tollett called the confluence of all of the elements coming together for the 2016 Desert Trip “a miracle.” He had been speaking with the Rolling Stones about performing for years and had long dreamed of presenting Dylan. All of the legendary acts happened to be available in October, just before reseeding season for the polo fields and just after the summer heat had begun to break in the desert.

The city of Indio had signed a 17-year contract with Goldenvoice in 2013, giving the Los Angeles-based company a permit to produce five outdoor festivals a year through 2030.

Anticipation for a fall festival geared up in 2016 and Tollett talked about preferring to mount an original event rather than book a touring festival to play the Empire Polo Club. Speculation about his plans rose to the level of guessing the Coachella headliners before he announced Desert Trip around this time three years ago.

The reaction was as if the windmills had been clicked into reverse, suddenly sucking the oxygen out of classic rock fans, leaving them gasping in disbelief.

Dylan opening for the Stones? Young jamming with McCartney? The Who opening for Waters?

“I’ve never seen something go so fast,” said Tollett. “People really liked that show. It’s funny. I loved it.”

But Tollett said he doesn’t know if he’d be able to present legendary rock bands like that again, or if he’d even want to.

“I’m not trying to be coy,” he said. “I just don’t know. I always have my hand on the blinker, where I can make a lane change. I always want to do Desert Trip. I’m prepared to do it. If it falls into place, then our team will jump through some hoops.”

Former Indio City Councilman Mike Wilson, eager for the economic benefits of a fall festival, expressed displeasure with Goldenvoice for not having a fall festival last year.

Amith said the city permit doesn’t require Goldenvoice to stage a festival at any particular time of the year, and it certainly doesn’t have to be another “Oldchella.” But she expects Tollett will produce another innovative festival before his permit expires.

“We have 11 years left, so I would suspect, if I had the reading cards, he will be doing something in 11 years,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s (going to be) something similar to Desert Trip because in the past he‘s also done the Big Four (a heavy metal touring festival held between Coachella and Stagecoach in 2011) and he’s done the Phish (a festival by the jam band, Phish, over Halloween weekend in 2009). So, he’s been across the board with different types of music genres.”

Speculation has continued since 2016 that Tollett has been trying to reunite Led Zeppelin for huge amounts of money or present a ‘70s rock sequel to the ‘60s-oriented Desert Trip.

But Tollett said, “It’s like anything. I never work anything.”

Amith said she doesn’t know what Tollett is planning to do at this point.

“He has a lot of ways he could go,” she said. “Only Paul knows what he’s thinking and only Paul knows what creative talent is out there and available, and only he knows what he can pull together.”

“You never want to force any show," Tollett said. "Just move on.”