The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has been using the three-day, two-weekend model since 2012, and there are slight differences between the two events every year.
This year, the festival took over the Empire Polo Club in Indio on April 11-13 and 18-20 with headliners Lady Gaga, Green Day and Post Malone. For the most part, things stayed the same with a few differences here and there.
Weekend two isn’t sold out
Over the last couple of years the festival hasn’t sold out for weekend 2 which has made the festival experience less hectic for fans looking for a more relaxed Coachella experience. During the first weekend, the festival producer Golden Voice drew criticism from campers, festival attendees, and city councilmembers for high traffic, which led to hours of delay in entering the festival for campers and leaving the festival on the first night. For the second weekend, we spoke to campers who said they had no trouble getting in to set up camp, although traffic conditions on Friday, April 19, were somewhat delayed due to an accident on the 10 Freeway.
As for crowd sizes, there were, for the most part, fewer lines for food, water refill stations and merchandise. The only drawback during weekend two is lines or crowds for other performers who got a boost in popularity last weekend. Kneecap, for example, had an extremely long crowd to get through if you wanted to catch them at the Sonora tent.
Slightly different performers
For weekend one, Weezer was a last-minute surprise addition to the festival’s Mojave tent afternoon performance on Saturday. On weekend two Ed Sheeran took that spot. Over at the Heineken House, Cordae took the place of The Pharcyde, weekend one’s headliner.
There were also less surprise guests with most performers only making the appearance for weekend one. Most acts just performed a regular set, but if you tuned in for Benson Boone’s on Friday, April 18, you at least got a cardboard cutout of Queen guitarist Brian May for Boone’s cover of the band’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
From green grass to hay
The grass is literally greener on the other side at the festival, well during the first weekend at least. The once spongey soft green grass that encompassed the venue is barely there. Festivalgoers during weekend one were able to lie on the plush grass, but weekend two fans got dirtier shoes and bottoms if they weren’t lucky enough to find a seat anywhere else.
Cooler weather
Typically weekend one is blessed with sunny but comfortable weather but the tables were turned this year. The weather during the first weekend was over 100 degrees on the first day, making it one of the weekend toughest. We saw several people in the medical tent who landed there because of heat-related issues. The rest of the weekend stayed in the mid 90s which wasn’t too much of a difference but did slightly help.
As for weekend two, the winds had blown in with cooler temperatures with the first day only reaching 80 degrees but with a chilly breeze. Before sunset most festivalgoers anticipating the heat with short sleeves, shorts and skirts were visibly cold. Some wore hoodies and others huddled together with their friends after sunset. The cooler weather won’t completely last as temperatures are expected to go up a few degrees with Sunday, April 20, peaking in the low 90s.