In the wake of the rioting that marred Woodstock '99, a high-profile music event like the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is bound to draw heavy scrutiny. But organizers of the two-day music festival in the Southern California desert town of Indio say that they have taken steps to avoid a similar meltdown at their festival.

Veteran Southern California promotions firm Goldenvoice is behind Coachella, which is set to take place Saturday and Sunday (10/9-10) at the Empire Polo Grounds near Palm Springs. Beck [ tickets ], The Chemical Brothers [ tickets ], Morrissey [ tickets ] and Perry Farrell [ tickets ] will top the lineup on Saturday. Headliners for Sunday will include Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals and Pavement.

The set-up for the event will include a main stage, a second stage, a dance tent and two DJ tents. In all, about 80 bands and DJs are scheduled to play during the two days. Goldenvoice is billing the show as ''the biggest event ever created in the US in the style of the great European festivals.'' Specifically, Goldenvoice used Britain's Glastonbury Festival -- which annually lines up eclectic pop/rock and electronic acts -- as a model for Coachella.

Though the official Coachella website and the event's other marketing materials make no mention of Woodstock, it's clear that Goldenvoice is trying to draw distinctions between Coachella and the ill-fated Woodstock show.

For instance, organizers point out that the Coachella festival site -- which hosted Pearl Jam without incident in 1993 -- is a grass-covered 70-acre facility with an acre of shade and mist-tents, and that the weather is typically mild this time of year. They leave unstated the fact that Woodstock took place largely on the baking mid-August asphalt of a retired military base.

At Coachella, bottled water will be sold for $2, half of the price charged at Woodstock '99. Each day, a free bottle of water will be given to the first 20,000 people through the gates at Coachella, and dozens of water fountains will be placed throughout the site. Woodstock organizers were criticized for the scarcity of free on-site water.

"Our first goal in putting something like this together is to think about the fan," said Goldenvoice partner Moss Jacobs. "A lot of other companies start with the bottom line first, then build back from there. But we try to imagine all things the fan will care about during their festival day and see if we can deliver it, from a more artistic and creative line-up to affordable water. We don't proceed with the event unless we feel we can provide a certain kind of experience."

In the wake of Woodstock, Goldenvoice ordered additional portable toilets, including pricey flush-toilet trailers. At Woodstock, portable toilets quickly overflowed. More security was also commissioned for Coachella.

Goldenvoice officials are also quick to point out that the scale of Coachella isn't anywhere near that of Woodstock. Though the Empire Polo Field can accommodate a crowd three times as large, the number of tickets on sale for each day has been capped at 35,000. Woodstock drew a crowd that was estimated at 250,000.

"It's a clear testament that we're thinking about the fan's experience,'' Goldenvoice partner Rick Van Santen said in a statement announcing the event. ''We're not selling to capacity. We're capping sales so each fan will have a great time."

Unlike Woodstock, no on-site camping will be allowed. And according to Goldenvoice, it may be too late to book a campsite near the festival grounds. However, as of Wednesday (10/5), some hotels and motels still had vacancies in the town of Indio and accommodations are plentiful in nearby Palm Springs.

According to local newspaper reports, local businesses generally have been supportive of Coachella and the potential it holds to bring younger tourists -- and their dollars -- to the region known as the Coachella Valley. Government officials have been cautiously optimistic as well, realizing that if Goldenvoice can pull off the event successfully, Coachella could become an annual event and could spawn others.

A recent editorial in the Desert Sun, a local newspaper, pointed out that concert-goers themselves will ultimately determine the event's success or failure.

''As with any event of this magnitude, some things may not go as planned,'' the editorial said. ''Food lines may be long or depleted. One person may accidentally step on the foot of or bump into another person. A guard may ask someone to do something that someone doesn't want to do.

''Reacting responsibly and with civility to these types of incidents will go a long way to ensuring a hassle-free two days. And even a long way to shaping adults' ideas about today's youth.''

Parking lots will open at 9am each day, and parking will be free. Gates will open at noon and will close at between 11pm and midnight. Cameras, chairs, weapons, drugs, blankets, recording devices and umbrellas will not be allowed on the grounds.

Outside food and beverages won't be allowed either. On-site food (which Goldenvoice says will be ''reasonably priced'') will include vegan, vegetarian, Mexican, Chinese and Indian food, along with typical festival fare.

Further information -- including complete talent lineups for each day -- is available at the official Coachella website.