Coachella runs across 78 acres of polo fields in the Coachella Valley, about 200 kilometres east of Los Angeles, with six or more stages, a fairground of large-scale art installations and a programme that has headlined everyone from Prince to Beyoncé to Bad Bunny. Weekend 1 gets the surprise guests and the press; Weekend 2 is identical on paper, usually slightly cheaper on resale, and calmer.
Passes are sold in a presale in January — general admission, GA with a shuttle pass, and VIP, which buys separate viewing areas, better toilets and air-conditioned lounges. Everything sells out within hours; the official fan-to-fan resale later in the spring is the only safe secondary route. Payment plans are offered at presale. The shuttle pass is worth having: it runs from hotel zones in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta and Indio and removes the parking problem entirely.
The accommodation choice is camping on site (car camping, tent camping or the pre-pitched 'Safari' tents) or a hotel in the valley. Palm Springs is the stylish option, 35 to 45 minutes away with mid-century motels and pool parties of its own; La Quinta and Indian Wells are closer and quieter. All of it books out with the passes. April days reach 35°C and the fields have little shade — sunscreen, a hat and the free water refill stations matter more than the outfit.
Most international visitors fly into LAX and drive; the freeway east (I-10) is a straightforward two and a half hours outside the Friday-afternoon exodus. A chauffeur for the LAX-to-Palm Springs leg turns the transfer into the first part of the holiday and solves the question of who drives back on Sunday night.
Three things to get right
- Presale in January; nothing survives beyond it except the official resale.
- GA + shuttle pass and a Palm Springs hotel is the balanced choice.
- Weekend 2 for lower prices and thinner crowds; Weekend 1 for the surprises.
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