Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Returns to the Desert
Written for Newspaper Journalism course at UC Santa Barbara
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival returned to the desert for the first time since 2019 this past weekend. Since 1999, artists from all across the globe have traveled to Empire Polo Club in Indio, California to perform at the festival.The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the event the past two years, creating much anticipation surrounding the festival turned pop culture phenomenon.
Jessica Zorn, a UC Santa Barbara graduate, has attended the festival in 2018, 2019, and 2022.
“The lines were much shorter this year compared to past years, but the crowds and artists were just as fun,” Zorn said.
The shorter lines were likely due to the late cancellation of headlining act Kanye West which led to an influx of ticket buyers selling their passes in the week leading up to the festival. West was replaced by a collaboration of Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd. Other headliners included Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.
Taylor Rubin, a UCSB sophomore and first time Coachella goer, found that “the only reason [she] was able to get [her] ticket for $300 was because Kanye dropped last minute.”
General Admission tickets were being sold for as high as $600 at their initial release.
Travis Scott was also an initial headliner, but following the events that occurred at the 2021 Astroworld Festival he was removed from the lineup.
The line length was not the only change this year’s festival brought. The addition of Harry Styles and Billie Eilish to the headlining list steered the festival away from its indie roots and towards popular culture.
With the rise of social media apps like TikTok, Coachella entered a new influencer era. TikTok content was flooded with “Coachella Fit-Checks” where influencers showed their long awaited outfit choices for the festival.
Coachella’s Revolve Festival, a festival prior to the actual Coachella Music & Arts Festival for celebrities and influencers put on by the popular clothing site, made headlines as well with its comparison to the 2017 Fyre Festival incident.
Influencers turned to social media to share their stories at the star-studded festival and claimed being stranded without transportation to the actual Coachella grounds. There were reports of being left without water in the Palm Desert heat.
A guest at the Revolve Festival who posted the original TikTok, comparing it to Fyre Festival, later posted a “Story Time” describing the event’s problems. The poster, Madison Crowley, described an incidence of favoritism when it came to catching buses to the main festival. Stars with higher profiles were led to a “VIP” line where they were immediately escorted to a bus. The other line was left to wait for three or more hours without access to water.
“As the festival was reaching capacity late Saturday afternoon, shuttle access to the venue was limited in order to remain in compliance with safety requirements causing longer wait times for entry and resulting in some guests not being able to attend the festival. The safety of our guests is of the utmost importance to us and we will always make that a priority," Revolve said in a statement.
Despite the social media drama, Jessica Zorn said the energy and excitement of the weekend could be felt. “After three years of waiting, everyone was just so happy to be there. The artists were incredible. There were so many smiles in the crowds. It was an amazing weekend.”
Weekend 2 of the festival begins this Friday, April 22 and will feature the same headlining acts.