The countdown begins! Every year this festival gets better and better! I am lucky enough to live in the area and I never miss a year! Last year a group of my friends and family rented a home near the venue and had the best time ever. I really recommend finding a place to stay as close as possible to the concert because traffic is horrible and getting in and out takes hours if you travel far. We rented a really nice home with a large pool that was a big hit! It gets really hot and jumping in the pool is a great way to cool down. We also saved lots of money on drinks and food because we could just walk back and forth in between bands. We used Vacation Palm Springs to book the home and this company was awesome! We couldn't figure out how to work the spa and a property manager came within minutes to help us out. This home made the weekend so much fun! This year we are doing the same thing! I can't wait read more

Made it back from Coachella in one piece! 2 days of not knowing where I'm going to end up in the desert...as a frequent Coachella visitor I usually end up liking Sat and Sun better, I'm a little sad I missed Morrisey, but it's OK because I knew I didn't want to be caught up in Friday's traffic. I didn't suffer from too much heat stroke because I didn't get there until the sun was setting Sat which is the time of day I like in the desert. Parking wasn't that bad at the time I got there, and was a short walk from the festival, but in case you don't feel like walking there's always cool guys with one of those bikes with a seat for you and all your friends, so don't be scared to pay a couple bucks and get a fun little ride! The first thing I did was go to the Heineken tent to get a nice cold brew, and danced to some cool grooves, under a cool psychedelic tent I stayed in there until it was cool enough to go outside, and walked a short distance to the Do Lab tent and saw an awesome show with Lucent Dossier Vaudeville- burlesque dancers, amazing acrobats, and some of the most beautiful voices I've heard in awhile. Walked a l ittle and went to Sahara tent where everyone was dancing to DJ AM and Travis Barker on drums(Blink 182)! One of the main reasons I went was to see Thievery Corporation.. one of my favorite shows all weekend! : ) they had it all drums, beautiful voices, singer from Talking Heads, awesome show! I enjoyed much of the art..the fire snake was cool, and the light shows are always fun, walked around enjoyed more bands and ended with the Killers! Sat night was great! You always need a pool in the desert so before I rolled out Sun to the festival. I stopped off at the Viceroy Hotel for a cool pool party- Great DJ, drinks and food! Again didn't go to festival until sun started setting. I got there just in time for Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs! good performance! I loved My Bloody Valentine- the girl in the band plays the guitar so good! Another one of my favorite shows was Groove Armada-this pair of DJ's really had the crowd going! No wallflowers here : ) Last but not least I ended my awesome Sun night with The Cure- layed out on the grass and relaxed under the stars in the desert! Another great year at Coachella!! read more

This was the best production yet. Better organized and better music. The shows and the stages were F--king great. They had more restrooms More misters More over head canopies for shade Better bands than last year More food vendors And the weather wasn't beating you down as much either. Still hot but cooler overall than last year. Paul McCartney still has his magic and knows how to rock it hard. Love Him don't you know. I brought friends for there first time and everyone had a blast. The crowd was mellow. read more

This is literally the best music festival I have ever been to. The venue itself is enormous, there's graded A food everywhere, and everyone is radiating positive vibes. I love Coachella! It's like a second home read more

Coachella - Art installation 2015 - Festivals Near Me - Indio, California

Oh, Coachella... Coachella is the person you become infatuated with at first sight and stick with even when they occasionally bum you out because they always, ALWAYS promise a good time. The boy who pours liquid wax on your body just for fun yet plays the guitar like a child of Zeus. The girl who makes the sickest sculpture out of freaking plastic bottles for your viewing but wants ten dollars for her basket of limp fries and 5 for her soda. That kid who offers you shade and cold water yet rubs his sweaty, deodorant-free body all over you for a better glimpse of Yeah Yeah Yeahs an hour later. That said: GO. If you want to hear 50,000 people singing "Hey Jude" with Paul McCartney, GO. If you want to be fed honey by Cage the Elephant, GO. If you want to meet I'm From Barcelona, GO. If you want to get bled on by Fucked Up (ew), GO. If you want to make friends in a heartbeat with people from L.A. to Great Britain, GO. Camp if you can handle it...everything is fine besides the imminent 7am wake up call via your tent turning into a sauna. Hint: The big white trailers at the end of the port-a-potty rows? Yeah, those would be air conditioned bathrooms with white wooden doors and flush-y toilets and sinks with soap dispensers. read more

Coachella 2012 was awesome!! I really have no complaints. Camping was definitely the way to go, met a bunch of cool people, good place to chill during the hot part of the day, and of course closest to the actual festival! Here's what my friends and I would have liked to know before our first Coachella. 1. The camping spaces are NOT 10 x 30. We had a 9 x 9 canopy that barely fit the width, and a 10-ft wide tent that did not at all fit, luckily we brought a smaller back up tent. Smallest camping space I've seen at a festival--you will be right on top of your neighbors, so you better hope they're cool. We only had three people on our site, I'd say that's the max if you want to have both a tent and a canopy. Maybe four girls who don't mind spooning in the tent hahaha. 2. Shower lines were NOT that bad. There were two shower areas, the one in the back away from the general store was much faster. I showered Sat and Sun and waited prob 45 min to an hour each morning. I say that's not that bad because at 9am, wtf else is there to do? I dunno who is waiting two plus hours but that wasn't true for me. Neither were any time limits. ALSO, there are mirrors and electrical outlets outside the showers in both locations so ladies, feel free to bring your straighteners and blow dryers! 3. There were phone chargers in the shade in the activities tent, with couches and stuff, and when we went there Sunday around 1:00 there were hardly any people using them. Yeah your phone will prob be dead all weekend anyway, turn that shit OFF and bring a watch. Save your battery for when you're having such an awesome time inside that you lose your friends. Or do like our neighbors and bring a little generator (that was awesome). 4. The car searches were pretty random. Our car barely got searched at all (didn't even open our cooler), while we saw them taking absolutely everything out of other cars. Make an attempt to smuggle in plenty of booze. Vodka in water bottles still in the plastic wrap (taped on the bottom) worked fine. 5. It was really, unusually, fucking COLD at night on weekend 1, and it even rained a little Friday. Be prepared for all types of weather!! Car camping = awesome way to experience the festival. I am not at all the camping type, and car camping was totally better than I expected. The pros of meeting awesome people, no drunk driving worries, and easy in and out to the music totally outweighed a wait for a shower (and showering was SO worth it) when I had nothing to do anyway and having to turn off my phone. And I got such a good tan. P.S. I DID get like deathly ill almost as soon as I got back, fever and all. I am not sure if this was from the close quarters while camping or just from me not being 19 anymore and partying like I am!! read more

Had a great time first time here the FUkU was amazing. The performances were great. Beyonce Weekend and SZA. Also Chic kicking it old school. Food is pricy but what you expect at a festival.the paella was horrible I will never order that again. read more

There's a reason it's the top grossing music festival in the world. Came for Weekend 2 in 2014 when the lineup was stacked. Saw MGMT, Kid Cudi, Calvin Harris, Alesso, etc. No matter how fit you are, you're bound to get sick from all the dust flying everywhere. Be sure to bring a bandana & stay hydrated. Anyways, accommodations vary from camping, condos, & hotels. The passes were priced at $350 in 2014, but have increased to $375 (Pre-sale) & $399 (General sale) for 2016. Also, there's a charging station where you can leave your phone & pick up later or bring your own charger. In regards to rides, you can call Uber, Lyft, or locals offering rides for around $10-20. Overall, you'll meet people from around the world, a must for everyone. Stoked for 2016 #blessup read more

Easily THE BEST outdoor concert and art fair in the United States!! There is so much to see, hear, eat, drink, and enjoy that it takes the entire three days to take it all in! Once you go once, you will go again and again. Only drawback is the potential extreme heat of the Palm Desert environment. If you are not careful and don't take it easy, the heat will crush you and send you home early. read more

Having vast festival experience in at least three continents, I was exciting to go to what had been described to me as 'America's most progressive festival'. This is my pro/con list. Pros. * Music and people are at the same general vicinity. * I saw girls. That's not only a huge pro, it's a requirement. Cons. * The music here isn't very loud, in fact I once had a boom box that with 6 D-cell batteries was rocking harder than this visually attractive stages with mediocre bands. * The people here exert the lunacy of a grown-up-hallpass; ie middle managers that can go 'non compos mentis' for a weekend. * They have a beer garden. The festival should be the beer garden, not this little pigpen of sadness where you are allowed to buy 2 beers at a time. Because of this, 2 now is the loneliest number. Super-overpriced, crappy beer are sold due to the fascistic monopoly of this death-row of self-expression. * The distances between porta-potties are absolutely insane. Beer give me a party-bladder, so I don't have time to walk a mile every time the horn of nature gains resonance in my pelvic section. * The fact that people don't stay here, but most drive after the festival closes (a festival doesn't close until its over). DUI central. Dangerous and stupid. How this can be allowed is beyond me, but maybe the revenue is what speaks. Conclusion. California succeeded via regulation to suck all festival feeling out of this wannabe festival. What remains is a playground for young adults, and as fun as that may seem - it isn't. This festival had potential, but hasn't been nurtured and allowed to grow. I am not saying that anarchy is the model, but this ubercontrolled setting sure is as far away from rocknroll as you can get. You see your average Joe with the carton part of a 12 pack on his head, thinking that this must be festival-nirvana, when it in fact brings tears to my eyes knowing that he will tell wild stories to subservient nerds by the water cooler about how out-of-control the "experience" have been. I will most probably never visit you again, Coachella. You sorry, sad excuse for a festival. Setting the bench mark of experience so low for young adults, is artistic murder. You have contributed to the festival experience, what Lance Armstrong contributed to moral fiber. You are the David Hasselhoff of festivals. read more

I went to Coachella in 2011 (after having wanted to go since 2007, when I first heard about it) and learned an essential truth about most things in life: it isn't fun if you're doing it with the wrong people, not doing drugs and/or drinking during it, and spending more than you can afford. All in the godless Indio desert sun. I'm sweating just remembering it. Kids in my generation talk about Coachella the way believers talk about Heaven. I don't know what the hell I was even expecting, but you don't understand...they flood my Facebook newsfeed at all times of year rambling about "THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!" incessantly. I thought it had to be worth going at least once. That there had to be something to this incessant, rambling hype that pervades my social media seemingly nonstop. How very wrong I was. Not to sound like a hipster (okay, I have some hipster tendencies - I worked at Urban Outfitters all throughout college, so you'll have to forgive me) but I think I only loved the idea of Coachella. I'd review the lineups with stars in my teenage eyes, desperately wishing I could go. But of course I had to go at the height of its douchebaggery, where you could likely ask any bleary-eyed kid who they were most excited for and only get 2 mainstream names. I have nothing against mainstream musicians (I do love me some Kendrick Lamar when the mood strikes!), I just have a problem with hoards of sophomoric teenagers shelling out their parents' money to see 2 entire acts and polluting what should be an awesome music festival filled with people who actually care about the majority of the music. As Luke O'Neil perfectly put it: "Festivals like this aren't for people who like music, they're for people who kind of like the idea of drinking in a crowd in a field near other potential sexual partners, while somewhere off in the distance dancing ants on a stage go through the motions of in-real-time content creation." Amen, brother. I'd never camped before Coachella (growing up, I had a high maintenance mom who didn't "believe in it", much to my nature-loving dismay). Cut to camping in Indio, which is actually Satan's armpit. Jeopardy question: where's the one place you'd want running water and air conditioning? Allow me to ring my metaphorical buzzer: WHAT IS THE DESERT? The girl we camped with acted like camping was the greatest - but she was also heavily self-medicated. Want to be woken up every morning by the blistering hot sun at sunrise (around 6 AM, when you'll be coated in sweat) and be unable to fall asleep at night due to desert dipping coldness/people being incredibly loud? Camp. Do it. You know you want to. I'll just sum up the cons: sound quality sucks, everything is crazy stupid overpriced, most people are sweaty and inconsiderate (manners, yo - is my mother the only parent who actually taught them?), the food was super disappointing, and of course, the blistering heat. The good things? First, the music. Of course. Seeing Marina and the Diamonds and The Black Keys and Animal Collective and so many others made me a happy camper (unfortunately not literally, but still). Also, Coachella fashion is a sight worth seeing - it's like an outdoor summery floral explosion of a runway. And the art is awesome. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Do Lab. Also, I GREATLY appreciated that they allow you to go in and out of the festival as you please. There were some good things about Coachella, I'll give you that. I want to give this festival another shot, I really do. Preferably with people I really love in a hotel. With real food. And hydration. And a fully charged phone. And a decent outfit. So if you see me at a future Coachella, you'd better believe I'll have all of the above. read more

Coachella 2014 was my third year attending the festival. I only kept going in the hopes things would get better.. . but after last year, I lost it and am never going back. Here are five reasons to NEVER GO TO COACHELLA: 1) Price: I'm no penny pincher but the price of tickets - they're up there - then the cost of food and drinks? You are forbidden from bringing in outside food and drinks, even water! So you're forced to constantly trek across the field to a water fountain or buy a $3 bottle of water. The food is decent and they have a wide range to select from, but I'd blow at least $50 a day keeping myself and my friend fed and hydrated. 2) Venue: Once you get inside, the venue is pretty nice in terms of cleanliness and decoration. But the real challenge? Getting into the f**king venue. You are lined up in a fenced pathway and have to walk for about a mile with no shade, and no water (unless you knew about this hellish trek beforehand), and by the time you reach the gates you want to pass out. I actually saw a woman do just that my first year. Also, get ready to be semi-molested when they pat you down at the entrance, and pretty much dump your purse/backpack/whatever, upside down. I got in trouble for having my own prescription medications (I was sick in '13) and inhaler for asthma, and had to talk my way into letting them let me take my meds in. It's like going to the airport but in 100 degree weather with wanna-be hippies. 3) Attendees: I'm young (early twenties) and even I cannot stand the "festie" goers. You have the girls in crop tops and short shorts, taking Molly in their flower crowns. Then there's the classic stoners who are passed out in the small amount of shade. Not to mention frat boys in board shorts covered in body paint, who are so drunk that when they run into you and make you drop your $6 sno-cone, they can't even apologize. It makes me sad to be a part of the generation I'm in. 4) Music: Here's the catch - if you want to guarantee you get Coachella tickets, you have to do the presale, which is oh-so conveniently held before they release the lineup. So you have to gamble on if they're going to have a good line up, or take the chance of not getting tickets during the public sale. And, over the years, their lineups have dwindled. Holographic Tupac? Talk about disrespectful. The Red Hot Chili Peppers? Why? There are so not relevant. And even if there are bands/artists you want to see during the day, they're in confusingly placed tents (find a map!) and often lined up at the same time. The big headliners are always very late at night, which is a bummer if you've been there all day in the sun - exhaustion. 5) Transportation: This one is fun. How do you get to Coachella if you aren't car camping (which is disgusting, if you ask me)? Say you have someone dropping you off - there is a "drop off zone" that is extremely far away from the start of the line, and police officers will accost you if you try to get out of your car anywhere closer. I'm not kidding. It happened to me in 2011. Getting a taxi? There goes more money depending on how far away you are staying (for me, only a few miles but cost me $40 roundtrip), and there is one taxi "drop off zone" closer to the main path, but still far away. Basically, the only way to easily get into Coachella, is to have a car pass - more money - or be camping - even more money. If you're willing to waste your parents money (maybe 40,000-60,000 amount of the attendees are younger) to get high, drunk, sunburned, all under the guise of "enjoying great music" then fine, go ahead. After three years, I've realized Coachella is a scam. It is the only music festival to actually make money, and some of the reasons I listed above are how they get your money. They're a business and it's great they're making a profit, but I don't want to be involved anymore. As a consumer advising other prospective consumers, save your money. read more

~~ 500TH REVIEW! ~~ The universe, in its benevolence, allowed me to experience my first Coachella this past weekend. So keep in mind that my review is not informed by previous Coachellas, or even other festivals. This was the first, and it was a big first. Let me preface my comments about logistics, organization, etc by saying that this truly was an experience of a lifetime. It occurred to me halfway through the festival that this should have been on my Bucket List. Not just "I would like to go." -- but "I HAVE to go." It's NOT for everyone, but if you are a self-professed music lover, you ought to do this at least once. Don't like to camp? Me neither. Get a hotel or rent a house. It will still be worth the cost. But be prepared, and do your homework. It is a test of your mental, emotional, and physical endurance. EVENT ORGANIZATION From my vantage point, this was surprisingly well-run. There were multiple checkpoints not only for wristbands, but for shuttle passes and purse/backpack checks. But these checks are not so ridiculously tight that you can't get ANYTHING in. Private security guards, as well as Indio PD, were present but not in an overly intruding way. They seem to get that people are generally here to have a good time, and the news reported on Monday that only about 200 arrests were made, mostly for drugs & alcohol. Out of 75K people (and, I hear, the youngest demographic ever), that's pretty good. Also, the staff were some of the friendliest, most personable people. Everyone from the security guards, to food vendors, to guest services, was interested not in just giving us the answer we needed, but also having a conversation with us about the music, who we were there to see, etc. I felt like I was at Disneyland, the level of customer service was so impressive. EVENT SETUP There was some room for improvement here. The water-refill stations, probably the best idea for the 100°+ heat that Weekend 2 was subject to, were too sparse and had too few spouts at each station. The line to get your water refilled could take up to 45 minutes -- and you're likely standing in direct sunlight the entire time. This forced us to buy lots of water bottles at $2 a pop. For a festival that is supposed to be about sustainability and responsible resource use, this was a huge miss. There seemed to be misters at every stage except the Sahara, which needed it the most. How do you put all of the EDM artists at the one stage where people will be at the highest risk of heat exhaustion & heat stroke? Thankfully food options were plenty, not completely ridiculously priced, and easy to find. The shuttles are a LONG way away from the festival. You will not realize this until you are walking back after the last set. 15-20 minutes easy. This is why people camp. LINEUP The artists this year ranged from pretty amazing to epic. I had my own customized schedule of artists I wanted to see, and Azya C. remarked how every set we'd seen had been awesome in its own right. The thing is, I could have put together an entirely different customized schedule with totally different artists, and the end result would have been the same. Maybe you missed the most epic crowd-surf by St. Vincent because DJ Shadow brought out Zack De La Rocha. Or you forgot about the first half of Radiohead because your mind was being blown by Kaskade. Or you reluctantly got talked into seeing M83 ...and then you got why people love them. This is why you come. PEOPLE Sure, not everyone's here for the music. There is plenty of Spring Break-feeling in the desert, but hopefully you're with like-minded people who can all have a good time together, and meet cool people who are as obsessed with these artists as you are. Because that's ultimately what it's about. It's a festival that makes you wonder why everything can't be this simple. read more

do not car camp. if you want to feel like you belong to a refugee site, then be my guest. but please, if you dont want to live in torture for 4 nights with brutally hot weather, get a house or hotel. i had to walk almost a mile to get a $10 bag of ice (yep $10). our neighbors were on drugs listening to techno 24/7, literally...so how is one suppose to get sleep? its too hot to sleep past sunrise so the only way is to be sleepless and looking cracked outta your mind and hydrating yourself with beer ...oh, and try using a portapotty for 5 days which is about 125 degrees inside the shit box with no ventilation. once or twice a day, a huge ass shit truck comes by and vacuums out the shit and pee then sprays down the whole inside with a hose. disease galore. ive never felt so filthy in my life. water is $2 for a dinky bottle and lasts about 30 seconds. you need it for the shit show ride home. literally, everyone was drunk or hungover outta their minds and swerving all other the place. im surprised i didnt see more accidents but the ones that i did see consisted of about 10 hipsters dazed and confused looking into space on the side of the road with "happy coachella!!!" written on their car. fun times, man. i would look over into each car and the passengers would be all sleep or with their eyes wide open (like myself) just trying to make it home in one piece. glorified zombies. everyone tries to convince themselves that the suffering was worth every penny ($350-$400). their mind is simply playing tricks on them. they know deep down that it was a ridiculous waste of money. i could've been in costa rica in the jungle flying around with real monkeys for the same price...or hell, stay in a cabin in the mountains and listen to the same bands on my ipod and not worry about my health for weeks afterwards. all my friends including myself still have a sore throat and hacking up a lung! coachella is so romanticized. the pictures make it look like a fashion show with not a worry in the air but the truth is, everyone is a miserable human being, wishing for something better. read more

My interpretation of Coachella. ----- She was on a boat. A giant boat made of crisp white butcher paper in the shape of a crane. In the middle of the ocean. Not a particular ocean, not one with a name or one that belonged to a certain territory. It was the motherfucking ocean. The center of the universe, where all bodies of water collide and merge. Where there are no ends or beginnings or middles. No ups, downs, lefts or rights. The breeze combed her hair and the sweat on her back and arms cooled as she reached out her arms to the sky and soaked in every stimulation that surrounded her being. In one standstill moment, she felt the soft living grass between her toes and the dew that nimbly blanketed her skin. She saw the growing lights in front of her, behind her, all around her. And like a finely conducted dance, the lights, the wind and the grass began to stir in anticipation of something bigger than themselves. Then from the distance came the slight whisper of a sound, teasing her and everything that surrounded her. Anticipation grew stronger. The sound, like a gentle fog, gradually creeped into the layers of her skin, into the strands of her hair, into the droplets of sweat, into her blood. Then born within the depths of her soul, the beat awoke at the call of the sound. The beat returned the call, growing stronger, getting louder. Both escalating, the beat and sound finally collided and embraced each other within her just as any two long lost lovers would after a lifetime of searching and painfully hoping. As the two became one, her heart held its breath, and for centuries time stood still. The boat stopped rocking. The wind hushed. The grass lied down. Her heart swelled and swelled. And swelled. When it was ready, when she was ready, It lived. Hard and fast. The music exploded. From within her. Surrounding her. In the wind, in the stars. Soundwaves were no longer lingering ghosts but bright explosions of life that she could grab with her hands and taste on her tongue. Chords, notes, beats, progressions - no longer entrapped in sound, but liberated and coalesced into colors, lights, air, soil, blood, breeze, touch. Music penetrated every molecule. Music became all that existed. And that, my friends, was my first Coachella experience. read more

THE BEST MUSIC FESTIVAL EVER! My friends and I had a great time hanging out and checking out all the attractions. They had everything I wanted. It was so worth it to go. read more

Had a great time!!! Met so many new friends and can not wait to go again next year. Tickets have been purchased. :)

What to expect at Coachella Music and Arts Festival: * Amazing variety of different classic, popular, and up-and-coming artists of all genres. * Eclectic and interactive art pieces and installations. * Tents for various companies to show you their wares and rest in. * Overpriced festival food. * Hot daytime temperatures, cool at night. * Strange mix of people and the most hippies and hipsters you'll ever see congregate outside of Silver Lake and Williamsburg without being Burning Man. * Friendly and warm people just wanting to party every chance they get. * Don't come if you don't like crowds or people. * Recreational substance usage of all kinds, but even if you aren't into that you will still have a great time. * Lots and lots of walking from parking to the festival grounds, dust, and dirt. * Also a viewing festival of attractive people and nearly naked men and women. * Cell phone data reception is very spotty and usually unavailable in the crowds. Bring extra batteries or chargers. There are charging stations in sponsored tents, but they are usually all taken up. * If you aren't staying in a hotel, be prepared to not shower. But hey, you'll fit in all the more with the other people. * It's an endurance fest. Make sure you drink lots of water. $12 is not that bad for the free refill stations, and there is never a line to get water from them. There is a free filling station next to the entrance but the line is always super long. * Stay safe, be open minded, and you will have a great time! read more

Chella2k19 is next year and I already bought my ticket. People can say what they want about the festivals but if you respect art and music this is the place for you! read more

tickets are $300++ and WELL worth it for 3 full days of a fun-filled music festival. 2012 was my first coachella festival ever and it was amazing. let's break this down in simple terms. my friends and i did car camping, and our set-up was pretty legit...YES, it was ridiculously hot with 105+ degree weather, but despite all my complaints and non-stop whining, i would do it over again in a heartbeat. i'm sure it must be more comfortable to stay elsewhere, but there are perks of camping! + camping is cheaper + camping kind of forces your group to stay together.we had a communal area and this is pretty much where everyone hung out, ate meals together, etc...at a hotel, you're likely to split up and kind of do your own thing on your own time. BOO. + no DD required, walk to the festival! + it's the "full coachella experience" i was terrified of having to shower outdoors and be limited to porta-potties, but they're cleaned pretty often so i actually never had any problems with it. and sure, you can't sleep past 9am because of the heat, but YOU'RE HERE TO HAVE FUN. sleep is for the weak! ;) tips: - bring a small towel/wash cloth. whenever you walk somewhere (i.e. from the campsite to showers), drench it in cold water and have it hang around your shoulders/neck/back. HELPS SO MUCH. sometimes the vendors let you dip it in their buckets of ice cold water. awesome. - VIP showers are NOT worth it...DO NOT pay for your showers! you pay $10 to shower for as long as you want -- that's great. but that also means all the people ahead of you can shower as long as they want! the regular shower lines are FREE and limited to 5minute showers, but this means the line moves faster so you're not left sitting out in the hot sun. - bring extra batteries for your phone or do what i did -- switch to your good ol' spare flip phone when you're just hanging out and not doing much. my flip phone lasted all 3 days, no charge required...and i wasn't worried about losing my phone. i can live without social networking for a few days. the charging stations are shit because EVERYONE is trying to charge their phone, and the solar chargers didn't seem to be too reliable. - on that note, if you must charge your phone, go to the charging station at odd hours. my friends and i sat there from 6-7am. - check out everything the festival has to offer! walk around, there's some really cool tents/booths, some of them well air-conditioned and fun! the H&M tent was AWESOME. summary: complained all throughout the festival, kept muttering "never again, so effing hot, never again..," danced my heart out, went to class with a sore body and aching legs monday morning, took a quiz in which i misspelled my name, spent the rest of the week recovering....put up with the annoying ticket buying process (again), stared at the standby page irritated for awhile, bought my pre-sales for next year. YES! p.s. their lost and found is SO amazing. if you've been on the site, you'll know what i'm talking about. they take pictures of everything and post it so you can identify your lost item. they seriously put so much effort into it. read more

Another Festival of Epic Proportion the Coachella Music and Art Festival is one that should never be missed. It can be experienced from a teepee or a cowboy tent around the lake. Or you can do tent car camp which is pretty crazy. Be prepared for an experience of a lifetime. Whatever you do don't go to this festival with somebody who is close-minded. Or a Debbie Downer. This Festival is upbeat and not for the faint of heart be prepared to walk a lot of miles as the festival is on a massive scale. Check the lineup for Coachella 2018 it could possibly be something you're interested in. They also do early pay by the month tickets that you can have paid off by Christmas. read more

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I am way surprised that there are only 157 reviews of the Coachella experience especially considering how many people attend. Panda express has more reviews??? WHHHAAATTT? Anyhoo; hands down one of the best music festivals in the world other then Glastenbury in the UK. No big BS sponsorship from Redbull or cigarette or alcohol companies. Coachella is all about the music.. And the music; this is the place for people who love music. Old rockers and new up and coming bands alike. Rap, techno, indie rock, folk music and Reggae; I guess they are missing Opera but Whatevs. For veterans of fun and international party people; I highly suggest staying in a nice hotel or house (if you are 25 and up) and to show up at the concert itself later in the day. You have to time it with the bands you want to see but most of the bands I want to see come on the earliest at 3pm, sometimes i do not show up till 5. Why you ask? It's way too hot during the day first off. The days should be spent drinking some cocktails or bubbly by the pool and then make sure to take a nice shower and doll yourself up. The scene at night is filled with probably some the most eclectic, coolest, most artistic and diverse people you will ever meet. I have met some amazing people here and (funny enough) hanging at the pool during the day at my hotel. We all converge to boogie and party the night away. And the burnt outs who have been in the sun and making their brains scrambled usually are passed out and back at their tents by 8-9. For young newbians; if you are young, you should definitely camp. Get the experience. Just remember to party all day and all night you need to drink a lot of fluids that DO NOT have alcohol in them. Like water, Gatorade or juice. Keep hydrated; you are camping in the DESERT! I have seen way to many young girls half naked (bikini's and short shorts) in a near death fetal position so please have fun but take care of yourself. Moderation is the key; also sunblock and water. :) This festival is a MUST if you love music. BIG NOTE- If you can, always go VIP to Coachella. Worth the extra money to be able to be from the masses; the VIP bar is a better area with the ability to drink liquor(not just beer and wine) couches and such. Even better if you get an all access wristband from someone tied to the festival. BIG TIP- Best food for Vegetarians is my friend Dave Sullivan's booth; I believe it's called SweatLeaf Farms. Huge salads, sandwiches and Veggie burgers. He is actually a farmer from Oregon, where he has a HUGE Organic farm; all the veggies you eat at his booth come from his farm! He is at Coachella every year so ever if you are not a vegetarian but you want yummy, nutrient rich food; his booth is a must. This is pretty much the only food booth I frequent at Coachella. read more

The first two days of Coachella were ok. The heat was horrible and the area was oddly muggy for not being by water. I did tent camping, which was in a dirt field. Car camping was in several locations- all grassy. That struck me as odd. There were only a few shower locations, and the lines were about 3 hours long if you got there past 8 am. But I figured, hey, why not try and make the best of it? It's Coachella. The third day ruined it for me. My boyfriend and I paid for tent camping, which included one parking spot. Each car has a sticker + microchip on the windshield (which was scanned each time we entered), and when we got to the camp site we were assigned a site number. The Coachella crew obviously had a count on how many cars were in the lot. So boyfriend and I decide to escape the heat and leave our campsite in the late morning, taking our car to get supplies/explore Indio. We come back around 6 and try to pull into our campsite. It's coned off, and there's security forcing us to another street. We get stuck in Coachella traffic, and I get out of the car to talk to a security guy. He informs me that the nearby day parking lot was full, so they used our PAID tent camping lot to deal with the overflow. Our lot was now full, and we would not be allowed back to it. They said they didn't know when we could park our car in there again. So we were led to a Day Parking lot. Which confuses me... they said the nearby Day lot had filled, so they used the paid lot. Yet there were still multiple Day Use lots that hadn't been filled yet. So, you're telling me that my PAID spot was forfeited because a nearby lot had filled, though multiple others still had rows of vacancies? We are led to a lot that is, literally, the furthest lot from ours. We park and approach another security person. We ask them when we will be allowed back in our lot. They have no idea. We ask them if our car will be towed if we leave it in this lot. They don't know. My boyfriend and I wandered the Coachella grounds, asking over 20 people these questions. We went to Customer Service booths, Question Kiosks, asked multiple "Supervisors," lot Security Guards... and not a single person knew the answer, or knew who to talk to in order to get it. Finally we find someone who says our campsite will open at 2 am. So during this giant round, I miss 4 bands I wanted to see. The combination of 1.5 hours of being in traffic + asking over 20 people for help = me missing 75% of the bands I wanted to see at Coachella. 2 am rolls around, and my boyfriend and I pull our car out of the Day Use lot. After 45 minutes of Coachella traffic we get to our lot, only to find it is still closed. I ask ANOTHER security guard when it will open. "We don't know. It's supposed to be until 2, but the roads aren't clear yet. Maybe 3, but that's just a guess." After waiting, my boyfriend and I, completely exhausted, end up sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. At 8:30 am we return to our camp site. It's still closed, yet it's almost completely void of cars. Two security guys are standing near it, and I approach them. I explain my whole situation nicely, only to realize they don't care. At all. After my minute long plea, one of the guard's responce is: "Lot's closed." "I know, but we need to get to our site. We just want to pack and leave. We have no way of getting to our stuff." "Well I guess you shouldn't have left then." "So you're just going to stand there and make an effort to be useless to me?" "It's not our jobs to be useful." So that line pretty much sums up my Coachella. It's not any worker's job to be useful. We found a nearby lot that wasn't being actively guarded, moved some cones, and pulled in as close to our site as we could. We packed our things and left. It had been 15 hours since my car had been denied access to the campsite, and it had never been reopened. Coachella, you have the potential to be awesome, but you sucked. Your staff is largely useless and your planning is horrible. My boyfriend and I paid $800 dollars to spend 1/3 of our nights in a Walmart parking lot and were treated badly by a large percentage of the staff we interacted with. I'm not returning, and I discourage anyone from spending that much money on this concert. There are better festivals to attend that are half the price. read more

Honestly, not for me. You can't enjoy the music without people walking in front of you. Everyone pretty much stands or walks. Rarely see anyone get into the music, they all have their cameras out recording the show. For people who have a check list to see the next artist and the fashion and pictures. Also not enough art installation, I paid a lot for Coachella to give me a full experience all around. I wouldn't go again, but glad I did tried. read more

This was my first time at Coachella and all things considered I am glad I went. The vibe is great and everyone I encountered was friendly. I think it's one of those things that everyone needs to go to at least once in their lives. My group camped onsite. Unfortunately camping is just not for me, but that's not Coachella's fault. The campsites have everything you'd need, but lines for showers are long (go during the odd hours for less of a wait) and it is so crazy hot. It is quiet as a cemetery after the noise curfew (1:30am) so sleeping wasn't a problem. For us, the heat was debilitating. We didn't even consider leaving the shade of the campsite until around 3pm each day. Mustering up the energy to walk to the restroom or to get food in the 100 degree temps was a challenge. Coachella is very organized and everything is well thought out, but they've been doing this for twenty years so of course it's a science at this point. We moved our car from the campsite on the last day to day parking (you can't leave between 10pm and 2am) and it took three hours from when we left the site to get in the venue (no exaggeration). Traffic is ridiculous around the polo club because tons of roads are closed. We ended up parking three miles away (again, not exaggerating, I clocked it on my phone). They allegedly had a shuttle, but we didn't see it. The directional signage for parking was confusing. The food I enjoyed was delicious and they have so much variety. It is also very expensive, as everyone else has mentioned. I paid $22 for a cheeseburger and fries. Beer was $12 a pop. Slices of pizza were about eight or nine bucks each. I was expecting the food to be pricey, so in the end I considered it all worth it. The performances were amazing. Beyoncé was the absolute best by a mile. This is a fact. That's not to say the other acts weren't great - they were, but what Beyoncé did was truly something special. The crowds are insane. Lines for the restroom snake around forever and ever and leaving the venue at the end of the night is a madhouse. Drugs are everywhere, including the hard stuff and especially pot. You'll see a ton of groups out in the fields lighting up. I don't think security cares much. If they have bigger fish to fry like keeping everyone safe, fine by me. Pro tips: stay hydrated! This is a no brainer. Even when you think you've drank enough water, drink more. I was barely peeing, once or twice a day at most, after I thought a gallon was enough. You'll be a sweaty mess and your body will go into survival mode and retain water in the heat. If you have allergies like me, bring your allergy medicine and do what you can to minimize dust exposure - bandanas, masks, a combination of both, whatever works. Don't forget to protect your eyes AND your skin - sunscreen is a must. Get a lip balm with sun protectant in it as well. I'm still debating with myself about whether or not to go again. I think staying in a hotel or somewhere else with A/C and a shower would make a big difference. The heat and the dust were just a little too overwhelming for me. read more

everyone is either high or drunk! if you're sober you're a loser! i'm shallow like that! read more

sometimes i get down on myself for not being a normal fun person that enjoys the company of a crowd and sunburns and overpriced shitty food and overpriced alcohol and long lines for nasty portapotties and feeling like a loser cuz one foot away is VIP and the people in there are more attractive less sweaty and thinner with better food and drink options. and somehow they figured out the perfect f'ing outfit. goddamn coachella makes me feel like a miserable piece of shit. oh, and remember how your phone doesn't work/you receive texts an hour after they've been sent? talk about frustrating. i'm going to go cry myself through a weekend long sleep this year. read more

For the largest music festival in the world, Coachella has the absolute worst customer service, website, ticketing, & technology. I really don't understand why they don't throw a few thousand dollars into a better website and a better ticket provider. Frontgate tickets is the worst ticket supplier I've ever dealt with. It is a 6-person operation in Austin, TX that will steal your money at random and offer no excuse for it. The website is impossible to log in to so if you want to communicate with other festival goers, you're sh*t out of luck. Giving 1 star because everything else about Coachella sucks except for the experience of actually being at Coachella: exorbitant ticket prices, impossible to find lodging, terrible transportation, awful ticket vendor, incompetent website, and ZERO customer service. I completely realize that Coachella has a monopoly on this type of festival, but soon enough the better run festivals like Outsidelands, Lightning in a Botlle, and Life is Beautiful, will begin to take this market over (fingers crossed). read more

Fun times in my old age. Grandkids enjoyed it quite a bit. Crowd was a bit much. Loud music and a mixture of booze is expected. Overall enjoyed my time there. read more

Coachella is such a magical experience!! It's 2 weekends this year starting this weekend. UBER will be there driving everyone around so there are no worries of drunk driving. First Time Riders use code: 50qsvb and receive $20 towards your Uber ride (s). read more

coachella 2011 ah its been one day and yet it feels like lifetimes have passed grown with wonder and amazement as to how beautiful musical sounds can be while jagoffs stand and sing along to the garbage being belched by the likes of "Im a motherfuckin lyrical genius" Kanyewest and and perennial bottom feeders Kings of Leon and Bright Eyes i wander amazed by the sullen rave beats coming from Leftfield and rocking us to oblivion and master chef, Daedelus, slicing and dicing chopping beats together to an array of mashed up breakfast blunts moving along to the precision of Excision rocking the sahara ravetent with crunching dubsteps of beats following it up with the dance party of !!! (chk chk chk) till we cant dance no more because it is so fucking hot why are bands playing at 1pm??????? so i venture to the Do Lab to get sprayed with the water hose guns to cool me and release my spirit to jump n dance with Govinda's violin infused beats and KRADDY getting nasty with his heavy bass smashing sounds that come from all around the coachella festival grounds... im lost....find myself dancing irrelevantly with my soul who ever think by Jackbeats i dont mean stealing somone's beats but a dope house dj in the middle of the day while i cower in the sahara ravetent to avoid the terrible sahara sun and try to calm my nerves and breathe easy L while ravers dance around me. Take down some Duck Sauce with my lunch why am i dancing while eating? im fkn trippin i hear Ratatat sounds but no one's shooting, beats are bouncing and ppl r dancing im thinking its time to rest and sleep and..... wander the Best Coast and wonder why She Wants Revenge for my shit that came from Leftfield and knocked me out for real now im like i needs to chill...so i set the Presets on and give myself one last dance to hold on, to. but for what? while ppl sit for the Strokes and Thunderball i get Tokimonsta to bring me back down my Health feels wealthy and with this Animal Collective around me i might not need be living One Day As A Lion and be a Laidback Luke who gets SBTRKT-ed by an Arcade Fire that turns us into a Broken Social Scene of dreams and Kills the Boys Noize from hitting the streets read more

I dunno how you brave souls can survive car camping. Everyone who camps says it's a great experience but to wake up in excruciating heat, no A/C, long lines for showers and no flushing restrooms all weekend. Respect and more power to ya! Love: -the atmosphere. Imagine all these party ppl coming together to have fun, party, chill and have a great time vibin' to the music in the middle of a desert. It's pretty neat to see. -festival fashion. Nowhere else are you gonna get away with dressing hippie and rockin your flower headband and fringe wear. -the music. Coachella has expanded to more mainstream acts like Drake and the Weeknd. Not just EDM. I like the variety that can suit everyone's needs. -special guest appearances. Madonna, black eyed peas. Sad to miss weekend 2's Kanye and Nikki!!Coachella is full of surprises and part of the fun is the anticipation. -the art! Another surprise! Sad there was no giant spaceman but a giant caterpillar that turns into a butterfly the next day, hippos working inside the community building, a structure made out of tin cans. Amazing to know each structure was made by an artist. -food although expensive I liked the variety they had especially from reputable vendors (Eggslut, Afters ice cream). Also some healthy alternatives like Fresh fruit, corn, baked potatoes, etc. -chill vibe where I can sit on the grass and listen to my favorite music and not having to suffer in the pit of people for every performance. The beer gardens made it easier for us to have a drink while enjoying a closer view. Every year they seem to improve Coachella in more and more ways but these are the things I still hated lol. Hate: -portapotties aren't fun but kudos this year for installing a building with flushing toilets! I prefer using the trailers in the back. Those are still flushable as well. -dusty walk from the parking lot/shuttle line. Bring a bandana! -need more water refill stations! Such long lines to refill our water bottles and camel backpack that we just ended up not bothering and just paying $2 for water. -heat is unavoidable. I liked going late afternoon/night to try to avoid it. -EXPENSIVE. A coachella ticket is one pretty penny of $375 and the demand can be pretty high depending on the lineup. Sad to say I'm now suckered into this money pit. All this was worth every penny. Everybody needs to experience Coachella at least once in their lifetime. I had an amazing first experience. And no you do not have to be on anything to have a good time. Do your research on what you need to prepare beforehand and remember Coachella really is a marathon. Pace yourself! See you next year Coachella :) read more

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I love Coachella. The sun, the dust, the music, the food, the music, the crowds all make up the complete Coachella experience. Yes, it is not a cheap weekend, but you really can't get the Coachella experience anywhere else. Make sure you head into the weekend fully prepared for the elements and the high price tags, and you'll definitely have a great time. read more

It's just not the same... the line ups, the crowds, the whole spark Coachella used to have is fading. When I first went it was packed, beyond crowded, yet still enjoyable because of the vibrations of the people and the festival. Everybody used to go to have a good time, now it has literally become a awkward attempt at reviving what the festival used to be about. The prices of food and drinks inside the festival are about $15-20, the lines for the attractions can be ridiculously long, the heat during the day is dangerous and makes you only want to show up in the afternoon/evening, and the uber/lyft pick up spots are STILL a cluster!!! Good luck LEAVING the festival, it'll take forever and a day if you are not just camping on the polo fields. Our mistake was driving there on the 3rd and final day when we also had to leave very early in the morning, we couldnt find the car until about 1:45AM... we left Ariana's set at about 11:20 right when she brought out Bieber and caught a bit of NGHTMRE on our never ending destination to the car. There was a dust storm that didn't really help the clarity while looking for your car parked along with 10,000 other cars whose alarms are all going off as well. It was a nghtmre. read more

coachella is my annual hippie weekend. with a "real" job, bills and a husband and 2 dogs to take care of, i can't always be the barefoot, carefree hippie girl i once was. we camp offsite (at the shadow hills rv park, if you care to know) and drive the 7 or so miles to the show each day. all day in the indio sun is hot as hell. the line up is always stellar. and the best part is that with all the art, 2 big stages, 3 tents and a ton of other mini stages you're never bored. i've discovered some of my favorite bands here, i've fallen in love with acts i previously despised here and i've had some of the most amazing times in my life here. and i've never seen art like the art i see at coachella. coachella has a very, very special spot in my heart. i start pining for next year the minute it ends. some advice for the newbies: 1. bring earplugs - three 12 hour days of music can deafen you. 2. a bandanna is your multi-purpose best friend: a personal air conditioner when soaked in water, a placemat when eating in the grass, a headcovering when your ponytail gets messy, an attention grabbing device if you lose your friends, the list goes on. 3. make friends. coachella people are nice. 4. if you only see the bands you know you're doing yourself a disservice - in your spare time check out some new ones too. 5. you're not there just for music, even if you think you are. explore. take the time to visit all of the art installations - they are larger than life and fantastically unique. 6. bring your own water in, and drink more water than beer. please. 7. oh, and when you get hungry, get the corn on the cob. absolutely friggin' amazing. read more

Got to festival at 11:00 am festival gates opened at 12:00 noon. Proceeded to get merchandise and it was already a line. Notice that there was a separate line for workers which is ok but the Kid Cudi sweat jacket sold out before we could even make it to the counter to purchase it. What I did notice is the line for workers which was very short they were purchasing 5-10 jackets at a time. Coachella should put enough merchandise for the public and not let the workers purchase all of what they have. We are there paying customers and that is not good customer service. read more

This might be the most back and forth review, but after attending my 6th Coachella last weekend it's time to lay down some truth. As an avid car camper, this year was by far the WORST I've experienced. Loud neighbors aside, which always happens, where the hell was the organization upon entry to the car check/camping? Disarray, confusion, lack of control...it was all there. No coned off dedicated lanes for entry to the campgrounds, no real traffic direction. It was like Goldenvoice subcontracted to inexperienced companies. Separated from our group and not allowed to reconnect was one of many issues I had with "security". Past years they had a cordoned off area where groups met up and then they all entered in an orderly fashion. This year rumors of gates opening before they scheduled seemed plausible due to Lot 8 being at capacity by 1:00pm Thursday?? That is unheard of! The other, major gripe, is the complete lack of enforcement on the 2 am curfew. I get ther partying, believe me. But I also get that usually MOST people are exhausted after a full day in the sun, dancing, drinking and having a great time. You wanna stay up and party? Stay at a fuckin house. Or go to the Silent Disco. Or go into town. Stop dropping your damn bass at 3 am. This is complete disrespect, both on the campers who do it and security who refuses to enforce the stated curfew. This all being said, the venue was better, once we hoofed it 1/4 mile. At $10 per ride, PediCabs were expensive. Other than opening the gates late ( an hour ) due to wind, the first day was good, but not great. Overall, the lineup was fairly weak compared to past years. Add that to the horrible camping experience and it became clear this is my last year. Until they can firm up the line up and really fix the camping there is no reason for me to attend again. read more

I have climbed mountains, treded through barren lands of snow, jogged 50 miles through the desert just to tap a nap on a beach but nothing could prepare me for Coachella 2016. While adventuring into the heart of the lawless wasteland called Coachella I battled my way through ferocious crowds infested with pick pockets, I stood tall while others collapse to the unforgiving heat wave, and walked into the raging sand storm unscathed. I am a survivor of Coachella 2016. This was my 3rd time at Coachella and deffeinetly not my last. I was very skeptical about going this year because the lineup didn't really look all that great. It seems like every year the lineup gets worse. However, when i actually got there I realized that alot of the bands I didn't care for or didn't know about had some awesome live performances and if I ran into a band I didn't like I always had a couple other options. Also, I wasn't that excited about the headlines this year but when they got on stage they were f***ing amazing! Also, it seemed like every artist was bringing out a special guest and they had alot of great surprises. While the music is a big part of coachella it's not what makes it so great. The people that you meet at Coachella can really make that $400 ticket worth it. There are so many beautiful girls and guys that go to let loose and have fun for a weekend. If you choose to stay in the onsite camping it is litterally one big party. You can walk around, make new friends, and party with random people. The vibe is laid back and everyone is welcome like everyone is now friends cause were at coachella. There's always a person who you can have fun with, I'm always amazed at how easy it is to dance with the most beautiful girls at Coachella. As long as you look like your having fun they will join along. Lastly, even with the positive review I left above there was alot of nagatives about coachella too. A big mistake people make is thinking Coachella is a booze and drug fueled party. Trust me, if you want to have a great time it's probably better to be sober the entire time or drink alot of water. It can get very hot during the day and alcohol or party drugs will cause you to become severely dehydrated very quickly. I've seen many people party hard the first night only to be sick for most the weekend missing pretty much everything. Remember you paid good money to see artists play music, not to get wasted and pass out in a hot ass tent all day. Also, bring sunglasses and something to cover your face incase of a sand storm. If it gets windy you need those glasses to protect you from rocks flying into your eyes. Itll be very painful and youll probably end up missing your favorite band to find shelter if not. Coachella is seriously not for the faint of heart. At times you will struggle and comtemplate leaving or not. You gotta take it easy, relax, and dont go to hard. If you do that youll have the greatest time ever. Good luck and see you next year! ;) read more

We love it here now that our family has a home here we can come to Coachella fest and stagecoach!!!

My third year here. Daft Punk reorganized the contents of my skull.