I am partially making this article to help me feel better about not attending Coachella this year. Although Coachella is definitely on my bucket list, there are so many cons to going. Personally, this year’s lineup was not even that good and I think past years have been way better. Although it may seem so fun through social media, there are a lot of setbacks throughout the whole process.
Having a festival in the desert seems like a hassle to me. Palm Springs is so far from everything and during the day it is really hot but at night it gets really cold. With all the temperature fluctuations it is hard to dress cute and trendy while also dressing practically for the weather. I see influencers like Alix Earle wearing heels and I do not know how she does it! She did kill her outfits though!
If you are a non-influencer, most people camp at the festival. They sleep in their cars or set up tents. While this might sound fun, it is super crowded. The bathroom lines to shower are 3 hours long. It is also super hard to find a space to set up your tent. The food there is also super expensive. One meal is around $70 per person. Let alone the wristbands to get into the concert range from $500-$1000! They are by no means cheap at all. Coachella will definitely break the bank account for sure.
Because the festival is in the middle of the desert, the cell service is not the best. It is hard sticking together with your friends so if you get split up or lost it will be especially hard to contact your friends. Unfortunately, Coachella is also famous for people stealing your phones which is super unsafe! Another con about being in the desert is that it is super dusty and sometimes it can be hard to breathe, and the dust can get into your eyes.
Traffic getting into the festival and leaving is usually around 3-5 hours, even if your hotel or Airbnb is just a couple of miles away. Going to Coachella will definitely test your patience because you have to deal with long merchandise, food, and bathroom lines, waiting around for performers to start, and long car rides.
Frank Ocean is one of my favorite artists but after his Coachella performance, I am glad I did not buy tickets. He was 40 minutes late to his set and had to stop early due to Coachella’s “curfew”. He did not play that many of his popular songs like Ivy or Thinkin About You. Frank Ocean also barely was singing and did not even have a mic. It was more of a Spotify listening party than a performance. It was also very hard to see him because he seemed like he was off stage a lot or sitting on the ground. I think people had very high expectations for this performance because Frank Ocean had not performed in 7 years, and he has not released music since 2016. He did give hints about him possibly dropping a new album in the future. I will say people had too high standards for his performance, but it is unfortunate that he ended his set early and came late.
Coachella on social media is definitely not as glorious as it looks. Many influencers and celebrities get paid to go and are provided with free housing, food, drinks, and outfits. A lot of influencers just take pictures and don’t even attend the actual festival. Not everything on social media is true, so hopefully this makes you feel better about missing Coachella!