The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, also known as Coachella, is a California-based music festival that had its last shows last weekend, Sunday, April 21. There were two weekends of shows in total, each lasting 3 days and having the same lineup. However, Coachella is not just a music festival, and activities like camping, games, and art shows are also offered. The festivities are held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
The first Coachella festival was held in 1999, and since then it has featured over 1,748 performers and initiated 200 art instillations, according to Gitnux. The festival has also made environmental impacts as well, saving 300,000 straws each weekend after they got rid of plastic straws in 2016. Coachella also offer’s on site camping, which is what makes them unique from different concerts, according to freshman Calista Au.
“Camping at Coachella is definitely the best part of the experience,” said Au. “If I ever go, I would want to share a tent with some friends, that would be super fun.”
This year, the headline artists at the event were Lana del Ray, Tyler the Creator, and Doja Cat. Other artists who made an appearance include Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Spice, and Sabrina Carpenter, according to Coachella. Lana del Ray and Tyler both brought surprise guests on stage; Lana brang Billie Eilish to sing Ocean Eyes and Video games, and over the course of his performance, Tyler sang with Donald GLover, A$ap Rocky, and Kali Uchis, according to Coachella. The sets were entertaining and attendees went wild for the surprise guests, according to sophomore Astrid Alafi.
“I got to go to Coachella for the second weekend, and it was amazing to see Tyler’s show, but I would recommend bringing warm clothes since it got pretty cold” said Alafi. “When he kept bringing people out, the whole crowd was screaming; the energy was awesome.”
Over the 25 years since the music festival started, Coachella has seen performances from grammy-winning artists such Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse, Björk, and Kendrick Lamar, according to Coachella. Fans look forward to upcoming shows and performances, according to Au.
“Coachella looked really fun this year, I’m excited to see who is going to preform next year,” said Au. “I think more and more people will go to Coachella so hopefully they will be able to expand it and sell more tickets.”
