By Payton Bayes
Coachella season is here! After a long year, spring is now here. As we know spring brings along fun, adventurous, and impulsive outgoing events having Coachella as one of them. Every year they mix it up bringing all your favorite artists to a summer location filled with food, influencers…just overall fun!
The first Coachella was held on October 9th and 10th in 1999. Wikipedia documents that at the time, there were around 25,000 attendees. Compared to recent events, Coachella has made it far being a popular approach by exceeding 600,000 people throughout the event. $249 was the starting ticket price for the entire weekend!
Since then, inflation has hit hard causing the average weekend ticket to reach $549-1339 depending on what admission you want. Because of the elevated population, the hype over Coachella is no joke. People start buying tickets a year in advance just to make sure they will have a spot.
Go crazy like Fancy Nancy! Coachella is like Halloween. You can dress however you want without any room for judgment! Many people express themselves at Coachella by even just throwing together random clothing and accessories that somehow go well together. Often trends or themes people fit with stay related to modern bohemian, desert western, and Y2K. Whether or not you go with the trends, expanding the fashion is never restricted.
If you’re thinking about staying overnight or multiple days, it’s important you know where you’ll be staying. Many people choose to camp there at the event while others find it better for them to sleep in a hotel or air bnb for bigger groups. All ages are allowed at Coachella. When it comes to camping there overnight you must be 18 or accompanied by someone who is over the age of 18.
Be prepared for the long lines. Coachella is also known for having really long lines to bathrooms as well as showers. Camping grants you access to getting there a day prior to the event for setting up and preparation. When lines appear to be too long, waiting can be too much.
Many campers bring big buckets because it’s highly recommended to keep water in your space. There are filling stations on the ground that provide water for when you want your own cleaning system. Camping may not be the best option but it is an easier, more accessible, and cheaper way.
Keeping the flow of the event, many artists come to perform from all genres! The focus on mainstream artists often go huge when performing, but the event also makes sure there are other underground artists that deserve the recommendation! As of 2026, Coachella makes a smart move for the crowd with Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Central Cee, and more of your top favorites.
Justin being a huge hit, Shaia Culligan, a student at Benicia High School, mentions, “His performance definitely was amusing the OG fans with songs from his teenage years. He had some interaction with the crowd with small conversation and even sneaking in memes on the big screen! Not gonna lie I even started crying..” These artists brought a huge wave of shock and excitement that made the crowd.
Based on your weather experience, what you pack is most important. The gates open at around 11pm closing at 1am meaning you’ll most likely be there for many hours. Watching the Ha Sisters experience with TRAVEL WITH US TO COACHELLA 2026!! *real and raw*. Their video focuses on preparing for the event and informing their viewers while having fun!
Emily Ha and her sisters make it clear that you should NOT “get an Airbnb far from the ground. Keeping in mind the traffic because palm springs is super dead until coachella. Wearing comfortable shoes and a small bag with electrolytes, portable charger, ect..” If you want any more info about the experience with an influencer during Coachella, I highly recommend the Ha Sisters for their authenticity and humor.
You may be thinking the tickets are out of your budget but that’s the least of your concerns. The event holds many different foods with anything you could ever want but…the prices are not. Often lines are really long and the experience is overall breaking the bank.
As a non-influencer it would be ideal to go every year as we know. Looking at it from a different perspective we also know that it wouldn’t be so bad to at least experience it once in your life. Aside from all the expenses and chaos, Coachella is a really fun memorable weekend that will be worth every last penny.
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