It’s Coachella season and I’m here to share my survival guide with you all to help prepare you for your festival weekend!
+Buying Tickets- You have several options for purchasing your Coachella tickets. You can check the http://www.coachella.com website for a countdown for ticket sales. Set up an account ahead of time so the day tickets go on sale you have everything set up and ready to go.
- Pre-Sale Tickets– Pre-sale tickets usually go on sale in June of the year before. This takes some serious planning and commitment in knowing you will be attending the festival the following year, without knowing the line up before hand in most cases. You will however, get the best price for your festival ticket if you are able to score it during pre-sale.
- General Ticket Sales- Ticket sales to the public usually happen in December. Tickets cost more during this sale, and there are fewer tickets for sale at this time. You will, however, know the line up for the festival! If this ticket sale is for you, use your countdown timer, and be online to buy tickets the minute they go on sale. I’m not kidding! The festival will sell out quickly and if you aren’t ready you won’t get tickets. You might also have to buy tickets for weekend 2, rather than weekend 1, usually the first weekend sells out most quickly.
- Re-Sale Tickets– If you were not able to score tickets during the pre-sale or general sale event buying re-sale tickets may be an option for you. This option is definitely more risky, but it is completely possible. Do your homework, use social media sites you trust and make sure your tickets are legit before you buy them and it not a scam.
My best advice is if it feels too good to be true, it probably is. You might pay more for tickets than face value and you might also be able to buy tickets for one or two days. It all depends on what is available at the time.
+Where To Stay- Once you have your tickets you need to start working out where you are going to stay. This is not something you can put off. Hotels and Airbnb’s book quickly, so the sooner you can book a place the better off you will be.
- Hotels– There are many hotels in and around the Indio Valley available for the festival. Make sure to check if they have a shuttle from the hotel to the festival. You may have to purchase a shuttle pass to access this option.
- Airbnb– Lots of Airbnb homes are available in the Valley and up to an hour out of town to rent during the festival. Depending on what size of accommodations you need, how early you book, and how much your willing to pay, your options will become more limited the longer you wait. Book early, you’ll thank yourself later.
- Camping– Unlike other festivals, Coachella, offers the option of camping on the premises, in a designated area of course. You do have to rent a camping space ahead of time. There are bathrooms and showers available and all the rules regarding camping can be found on the Coachella website.
+Organizing Coachella Days- An important park of any festival is figuring out what bands you want to see, what stage they are preforming on and what time they perform.
- Download the Coachella App to use before and during the festival. This will give you the dates, times and stage of each performance and will help you plan your days. This will also help when you have time after a performance to see what other performances are going on around the park.
- Take a tour around the park when you get there to become familiar with the grounds. This will help you navigate the park between performances, knowing where each stage is and how much time you will need to get there.
- Plan out your days based on the performances you want to see. Festival doors open at noon and the festival last till about 1am-2am, each day. Some concert goers are at the festival from the moment the doors open until the day is over. I’m not one of those people. I look and see what time the performances I want to see begin and I get to the festival a little before. Some days that is later in the day, but I don’t care to be in the hot sun if I don’t have to. With that said, I will say, some of the best performance I’ve seen are random acts I’ve seen waiting for a performer I’ve been looking for. So you will definitely catch new, awesome performances no matter what time you arrive.
- Have a “home base.” This is one of the first things we always do when attending a music festival. Find a spot to meet in case you get separated from your group. We all have the intention of staying together but sometimes things happen and you can’t find your group. Cell phone service is spotty during the festival and you might not be able to call out and having a arranged place to meet with help you find your peeps.
+What To Wear-
- Shoes-I cannot stress enough how important it is to pack closed toed shoes, boots or sneakers. I know, I know, so many people plan their perfect outfit, and want their shoes to match, but reality is, you’re are going to be walking, a lot! The grounds mostly consist of dirt and some small areas of grass, but for the most part you are walking in the dirt all day. Closed toed shoes help so much. Your feet will literally be covered in dirt at the end of each day. Not to mention not having to worry about getting your toes stepped on during packed performances, and trust me it happens.
- Blanket– I highly recommend taking a blanket with you to the festival. The days get long and often times you are waiting for the next performance to start and having a blanket to throw on the ground to sit on comes in handy. Yes, lots of people sit or lay on the ground but having a blanket helps to not be covered in dirt by the end of the day. You can also use it to keep warm during the evening when the sun is down if you need.
- Backpack-Taking a small back pack to carry your blanket, jacket, sunscreen and other necessities comes in handy during the festival. It is so much easier than lugging everything around in your arms and when you need something you have what you need.
- Light jacket- Yes, the festival starts in the heat of the day, but by midnight it can get chilly. Pack a light jacket, sweater, hoodie, whatever will come in handy when the sun goes down and the desert wind starts to blow, you’ll be happy you did.
