I’ve always loved music, and the idea of festivals. I heard stories of Woodstock through media, and from stories of those who grew up in the good times of the 70s. The idea of getting together groups of artists and bands and going along with your friends to experience one of the most beautiful pieces of art in life was a dream. Coachella, as I was growing up – seemed to be the biggest opportunity I would have to experience some of my favorite artists in proximity. However, the image of it all tends to have so many of us tied to the potential experience. The “realities” created that then lead to our influence. The norms of fashion, music taste, body type, consumption, etc. have all been changed with this one event.
Coachella, and the prioritized exclusivity and appearance of it, has changed the way the world views festivals. Influencers are invited by brands to represent their products – and the entire thing has turned into a branding phenomenon. Ticket prices can get to $70,000 for guest suites – and general admission for weekend 1 can reach $4,000-$5,000. Coachella, before social media, was an affordable event for music devotees with ticket prices for a two-day pass in 2001 being $65. With Instagram and YouTube livestreams, Coachella has risen to how we see it today. Celebrities would curate their styles to match an image of “boho-chic,” almost resembling the iconic festivals of the 70s, and people began to curate a fashion show within the festival. And in 2015, brands started to make their appearances in the California desert further influencing their products, ushering more consumerism.
However, throughout all the changes – festivals have always been a source of community for humanity. I can’t reasonably view Coachella as a source itself for the reasons behind how performative and superficial we can be as a society today. Rather, Coachella is just another part of the butterfly effect of what has happened to our means of communication. We are currently within a frontier of being able to communicate with everyone at any time, and where posting daily activity is a normalized function of our lives. So, with all the changes we navigate, the events and ways of life in which we all live – change themselves. On the bright side of things, no matter how negatively we look upon the idea of consumerism throughout Coachella, the festival itself has consistently tried to use sustainable energy resources during production – emphasizing the values that the festival began with, being community, art, accessibility, and expression. Undeniably, tourism and the congregation of a group of people will always bring for excessive waste, but perhaps the changes are just due to the fact that humans sometimes mess up the value and intention of things overtime.
Each of our lives are different than generations before, and this is the consistent change of eras. Through innovation and Americas laissez-faire philosophy, tied together with the differences between individuals, there will always be changes that impact different ends of the spectrums in positive and negative ways. In a sense, this philosophy has increased inspiration for collaboration and creativity within festivals. But as we are each a part of humanity, we often find grounding within the changes themselves. With a view from chemistry, we always find our equilibriums throughout distress.
I still look forward to being able to experience a festival such as Coachella, and to be surrounded by loved ones – connecting in our futures with hopeful plans of experiencing it together. We each have different resource values for different things, and through this different era, we are discovering what we all truly care for – within the economic competitions themselves. No matter what, there will always be two sides to every coin. On first glance, it seems Coachella has turned into an influencer meet up – with little to no reality for some to ever step foot on the grounds. But the change has come due to the difficult state of the world today. Maybe an affordable alternative will rise someplace new, with new philosophies and values. There are still many affordable festivals that take place (such as ACL, in Austin, Texas). So, let’s see what pops up next – and don’t ever let yourself get lost in the fomo!