The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announced on Wednesday that tickets for the twelfth year of their California desert gathering have sold out in record time, a mere six days after going on sale.

No more general admission or VIP tickets are available, leaving many out of luck for the April 15-17 event at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. Twitter annoucements and news feeds about the scarce tickets began to spread like wildfire on Wednesday afternoon. The sheer panic alone ensured tickets were gone by the end of the day.

A staggering 51,000 tickets were sold by Monday compared to the 11,000 purchased on the first weekend of sale last year, according to promoter Goldenvoice. Tickets sold out around March last year and scalping rounded out at about $1,000 a ticket at the festival.

There is speculation that the Goldenvoice-sponsered event is garnering publicity while preparing to release a second round of tickets, of course not before increasing prices. While weekend passes started at $269, Ticketmaster put a $12 facility fee and $29 processing fee on each ticket, making for a profitable year for everyone involved.

Goldenvoice told the Desert Sun that the promoter secured a permit for 75,000 concert-goers a day to match last year's record attendance. The 2010 event sold out after increasing 15,000 tickets per day from the previous year. The group planned to sell fewer tickets this year, however, after receiving negative publicity for overcrowding.

To further prevent counterfeit tickets and determined wannabe-attendees from sneaking in, no passes were available by email this year. Tickets have already been listed on Craigslist starting at $500.

In response to the overwhelming outcry from dismayed hopefuls, Coachella released a cheeky Twitter annoucement: "no, we don't have any passes left to release, kthxbye." So much for speculation.