After two years of dreaming about Coachella, my wish finally came true this weekend when I attended Weekend 2 of the 2016 Coachella Music and Arts Festival. My best friend from high school, Vanessa, traveled all the way from Montreal, Canada to attend the festival with me. We both bought pre-sale tickets last June and received our Coachella boxes, complete with an instruction packet, stickers, and our valuable wristbands, at the beginning of April.
Today is Monday. Coachella is over, and the weekend was absolutely amazing. It was the most fun that I have had in a while, and I am so happy that I went. I think that everyone should experience Coachella at least once – I'm not a music festival type of girl, but this was an incredible experience. So I am sharing my Coachella diary – full of tips and little tidbits about my experience for future Coachillers.
What Should I Wear?
I wanted to look good at Coachella. Like, really really good. So I planned out my outfits, and by the time I was physically at Coachella I thought that I looked good in comparison to the crowd. Fashion is something that is taken very seriously at Coachella, and the vibe was hippie/boho. It was really interesting to see the wide array of clothing choices that people had.
H2O Is The Way To Go
It's interesting that for our whole lives, it's drilled into us that we need to drink at least eight cups of water a day, but not a lot of people actually do it. I, sadly, am one of those people, but I got a rude awakening during Day One of Coachella. We arrived to the festival around 3:30 PM, and I hadn't been drinking water all day. Day One happened to be the hottest and driest days out of the whole weekend, and I was sweating buckets. About halfway into DJ Mustard's set, which started around 5 PM, a wave of nausea took over and I left to go to the bathroom. All of a sudden, I physically felt incredibly weak and my head started to spin. I went to the bathroom and threw up, and then went to the Medical Tent. They gave me an Advil and I started gulping down water. After cooling down for about twenty minutes, I felt much better. But that was my lesson learned! Starting right then, I always made sure to have a full water bottle on me. It's so hot and dry in the desert, so it's incredibly important to constantly stay hydrated.
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All About the Benjamin's – Camping, Food, and Transportation
Let's not beat to the bush – Coachella is incredibly expensive. General Admission tickets are $375 and VIP tickets are $899, and this is just the ticket to get into the festival. That's not including shuttle or camping passes. Getting a ticket into Coachella is literally the first step – you have to get to Indio first and find a place to stay. Most people stay at a motel/hotel or use Air B&B for the weekend, even though that can total up to a lot of extra money. I did not personally camp at Coachella, so I cannot attest to that experience, but I did have friends who had a camping pass and said that they had a good time. If you don't have a car, never fear – you can either take a shuttle or even take Greyhound (the station in LA is only 10-15 minutes from USC, and the Indio Greyhound station is 10-15 minutes away from the Coachella Festival). As for food, there are a lot of vendors inside of Coachella, but they all relatively come with a pretty hefty price. $7 for ONE slice of pizza? $12 for ONE burrito? And if you are 21+ and able to go inside the Beer Garden, one cup of beer is $10 and one margarita is $12. It's a little ridiculous, but seeing as how you can't bring outside food or drinks in, make sure to save up some cash specifically for food. Don't skip meals to save up money, it's important to get a solid 3 meals during the day.
Who's That On The Stage?
Everyone wonders whom the big headliners are going to bring out during their sets, if anyone at all. Are the Weekend 1 surprise guests going to be better than the Weekend 2 surprise guests, or vice versa? I'm happy to say I was completely satisfied with the surprise appearances I saw – Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Lil' Wayne, N.W.A., The D.O.C., The Game, Tyler the Creator, A$AP Ferg, Tyler the Creator, Big Sean, and Maddie Ziegler. It was absolutely fantastic.
The Dust Bowl
Even though everyone knows that Coachella is in Indio, which is virtually the desert, sometimes we underestimate what that actually means. Long story short – bring sunglasses, a scarf/bandana to wrap around the bottom half of your face, and a light sweater/jacket/sweatshirt to wear at night when it gets cold and the humidity goes away.
You Would Be Surprised…
…At how many people try and sneak into Coachella! I was completely blown away by some of the stories I heard. At the bus stop, one girl told me that she had snuck in during Day 1 but during Day 2 security caught her and kicked her out. I couldn't fathom how she was able to get away with this because on the long walk into Coachella, there are checkpoints where you have to scan your wristband. But what I discovered was that some people bunch together with a large group of people while going through the checkpoints, or they just make a run for it before security can check for them. Another girl that I met told me how she and her friends would swap wristbands so each of them could be able to enjoy the festival for a bit. I also found out that some people go as far as making fake wristbands so when they sneak in with their friends during the check in points it looks as if something went off (when in reality, it didn't).
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Don't Get Scammed!
If you want to go to Coachella and don't have a reliable outside source – one girl told me that her boyfriend's mom was able to score them free, legitimate VIP Coachella passes because she's in the music industry – be smart about buying a ticket! I overall suggest buying from the Coachella website itself during the pre-sale or regular sale dates, but I have been told that Coachella itself is grudgingly admitting that Stub-Hub is reliable. But do not buy from weird sounding websites or Craigslist. One guy told me that his friend bought tickets off of someone on Craigslist, but then when he got there he found out that the person had taken his money, reported the tickets as stolen, and gotten new free tickets from Coachella and was inside the festival enjoying themselves while he was on the outside getting grilled by Coachella security. Don't be that guy!
Lastly – Enjoy Yourself!
It's easy to get caught up in taking selfies, charging your phone at the various charging stations, getting pictures with the watermelon and in front of the incredible Coachella art, and taking videos during your favorite set and uploading them to Snapchat – but sometimes we forget that we just need to enjoy the moment. Put your phone away (make sure to bring a fanny pack or purse; it would suck to get your phone stolen) and just live in the moment. You made it. You're at Coachella. You're enjoying yourself with your friends. You're listening to the music. This is a once in a lifetime experience that a lot of people wish they could be at. The important thing about Coachella is to have fun, enjoy the weekend, and overall, have a great experience.
Reach staff reporter Adrianne Ramsey here
Annenberg Media