Coachella remains the best US music festival

Coachella remains the best US music festival

Held annually, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly known as Coachella) is a music and arts festival that takes place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Selling out fast every year, Coachella is the most popular festival in the US, turning the Indio desert into a fashionable hive of the coolest bands watched by trendy people and celebrities. Its lineup sparks anticipation from music press and fans every year.

The festival not only showcases popular and established musical artists, but it also presents emerging artists and reunited groups. Today, Coachella is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and all over the world.

Co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen back in 1999, the event features musical artists from many genres of music, ranging from rock and indie to hip hop, and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures.

The festival comprises many stages that are continuously hosting live music. The main stages include Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, and Sahara Tent.

The festival has its roots in a 1993 concert when Pearl Jam performed at the Empire Polo Club while boycotting venues controlled by Ticketmaster. The success of the show proved the site to be viable to host large events; these events led to Coachella being held for the first time in October 1999. The festival came back in 2001 as a single-day event, but in 2002, the festival adopted a two-day format. Today, it is held on consecutive three-day weekends in April, with each weekend having the same lineups. Spectators were allowed to camp on the grounds in 2003, which sparked the festival's expansion.

Each event from 2013 to 2015 set new records for festival attendance and gross revenues. Last year, in 2017, 250,000 people attended the festival and grossed $114.6 million. The festival was so successful that Goldenvoice, the organiser of the event and a subsidiary of AEG Live, established two additional music festivals at the site, Stagecoach and Desert Trip.

There's more to Coachella than top-class music. As the website states, “from delicious food to world class art, Coachella offers numerous experiences to enjoy along with the music. Check back closer to festival dates fro more fun & details to be added.”

In terms of good and drink, “Coachella features more delicious food than you could eat in a single weekend, with over 100 vendors serving everything from wood-fired pizza and hand-crafted burgers to authentic street tacos and fresh-from-the-wok pad thai. With plenty of options for every taste and budget, and ample menu items for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free guests, we promise you'll never go hungry.”

Coachella also boasts a fantastic artistic offer. “Each year, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival commissions a number of original, large-scale, site-specific art installations to be displayed throughout the festival and campgrounds. We search far and wide to include established and up-and-coming artists, and consider the works an essential element of the Coachella experience that distinguishes each year. This is art as landmark, public space and icon - to be viewed from an infinite variety of perspectives by an ever-shifting audience.”

The festival also cares about sustainability. “The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is committed to efforts that contribute to the betterment of the Coachella Valley. We have several initiatives to help achieve that goal.” The festival offers volunteering opportunities to take park in any of the Coachella sustainability programs or helping non-profit organisation Global Inheritance bring environmental programs to life.

Some of these initiatives include Carpoolchella. “Carpool with four of more friends for chance to win VIP passes to Coachella for life, ‘guest' backstage passes, VIP pass upgrades and more!”

Another programme is called “Trashed - Art of Recycling” and it consists of submitting your ideas for a recycling bin redesign, “and inspire millions to rethink trash and start recycling/composting. Selected artists receive passes to the festival.”

“The Recycling Store and 10 for 1 Bottle Exchange saves millions recyclables every year from landfill. Pick up plastic bottles, cans and cups you find on the festival grounds or campsites, collect points and cash them in for amazing Coachella experiences and merchandise.”

Another initiative is called “signage.” According to the website, “in our ongoing effort to be more thoughtful, we switched up all of our site map and set times to wooden signs. This concept was provided to us from Prints on Wood. With over 100 solar panels on the roof of pow, this is one of the most efficient wood printing solutions available. These dudes also plant one tree for every order placed.”