I was only a sophomore in high school when I first heard about Coachella.
When one of my friends first informed me of the huge music festival, I could hardly believe it was real. The line up of amazing bands seemed too fantastic – a place where celebrities and fans all came together for good music seemed mind-boggling. For me, I thought it would remain an unrealistic dream. Those price tags seemed a little bit — actually a lot — out of reach. While my friend experienced the magic of Coachella for the next two years, I stayed at home, texting her with envy as I got pictures of the amazing artists and saw the tales of magical performances come to life.
However, this year, my dream came true. I had the privilege to drive into that melting desert to finally experience the magic of Coachella!!!!! (The amount of exclamation points here doesn’t nearly cover my excitement). Whether you’re headed out to those beautiful polo fields for yourself in the near future or simply need a little vicarious living, I would like to share my take of the event with you.
The camping
Because I wanted to experience the festival in its entirety, my friends and I decided that we were going to actually camp — a bittersweet decision. Luckily, we went with people who had done it before and knew the drill; in result, we ended being in the first row of cars! I personally loved this because then we didn’t have to haul our stuff in each day for the whole day, or worry about dressing just right so we wouldn’t melt during the day or freeze at night. We were able to go out and change if necessary. Also, I loved being around all the other Coachella campers! However, the camping didn’t seem like the greatest of ideas when a windstorm blew in on Thursday and kicked up so much dust that we couldn’t see the surrounding mountains. If you experience this, I would highly suggest a bandana for around your face so you don’t end up with half the desert sands up your nose! All in all, it was a great addition to the experience, and I would definitely camp again.
The music
Now for the part of the festival that we really care about — the dozens of bands you can see within a glorious 72 hour period! Grouplove, Bastille, Ellie Goulding, Cage the Elephant, Lorde, Kid Cudi, Lana del Ray, Pharrell, Muse, The 1975, Naked and Famous, John Newman, Calvin Harris, Foster the People and the list went on and on! It was all too much greatness in one weekend, I honestly didn’t know if I could handle it! Yet, whether I experienced the performance off to the side with a little more dancing room, or right in the front with thousands of people behind me, no performer disappointed. If I absolutely had to choose my top three favorite performances, I think it would have to be Ellie Goulding, Kid Cudi and Foster the People. All of their performances blew me away and left me wanting much, much more than simply their 50 minute time slots. I loved that from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. there was music going on 100% of the time; you couldn’t possibly get bored. And whether you knew every word to every song, or had never heard of the band, the music was fantastic. They call this festival the American Glastonbury, and I find that description a perfect fit!
The Art
As this is an arts and music festival the art displayed is definitely impressive. I’m not the biggest art connoisseur, yet the pieces they had around the polo fields were pretty amazing. The pieces displayed this year included a massive astronaut that moved about the fields, cool mirrored cubes that lit up all different colors at night, and a huge, indescribable, infinity type installation that also lit up at night. There were more art pieces that dazzled festival-goers and myself each day, adding to the amazing atmosphere created at Coachella!
The fashion
As this is my passion, you could say I was anxious and excited to see what people would choose to don each day to make their own kind of statement. Let’s just say that they did not disappoint. Each day was like it’s own kind of fashion show. One of my favorite parts was when we would take a break and find a scrap of shade to people watch, while great music played in the background. Anything and everything was fair game here, frilly dresses, strappy tops, bathing suits, body paint, Indian headdresses; the choices go on and on! It was really inspiring to be around and just be able to take it all in.
After three days of great music and little sleep, I found this to be the best first-time experience that I could have ever asked for and greatly look forward to returning to Coachella in the future for another unforgettable experience!