Bia at the 2024 Coachella Heineken House (Priscilla Rodriguez)
When the newborn elephant that would grow to become the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival birthed in 1999, Heineken was there as one of the few critical sponsors to help this wobbly legged beast get on its tender feet.
With an indie and underground heavy lineup featuring Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Morrissey, Chemical Brothers, Beck and Underworld, widespread laudatory reviews belied the fact the festival lost nearly $1 million. So while Coachella’s current stature as one of the most iconic music festivals in the world now seems pre-ordained, nothing could be further from the truth.
Promoters of the two-day fest huddled up and recharged. Skipping a year, Goldenvoice shrunk Coachella down to one day and returned with gusto in 2001. Again, with Heineken as a life-preserving sponsor when the festival’s future seemed heavily in doubt.
Tyler, the Creator at the 2024 Coachella Heineken House (Priscilla Rodriguez)
And ever since Heineken has been there side-by-side with Coachella, growing hand-in-hand, ushering it through some lean years as it mushroomed from a one-day party into two, then three days, and eventually into a double-weekend behemoth. From a slick, floppy-eared calf into one of—if not arguably the—most influential festival mammoths in the world.
Along with Coachella, its Heineken support grew from being the only beer on the vast polo fields to acquiring its own small air-conditioned tent where they could host music fanatics in an intimate space. Then, last year, Heineken House became not just a partner, but a complementary musical stage itself finally listed in the Coachella app.
“It feels like we just earned their trust after all these years,” reveals Christine Karimi of the brand’s growth alongside the festival. “Like we’re not here to steal the spotlight, we’re here to bring something of value to something that’s already super valuable.
(Priscilla Rodriguez)
“There’s a lot of pressure on us; we don’t wanna drop the ball,” continues the Heineken Director of Partnerships and Consumer Engagements. “We don’t want to feel like, ‘Eh, we gave it our best but it wasn’t our best year.’ That to us is a big fat F. We know that we want to come out and feel like we helped enhance Coachella—and that’s really tough to do with the artists who they have out here!”
For the world’s most international brewer—and also America’s leading high-end beer importer with such international favorites as Dos Equis, Tecate, Bohemia, Amstel Light and Red Stripe under their banner—there’s a lot for Heineken to gain earning the trust of the Coachella braintrust. Growing alongside the globally renowned festival makes it the perfect destination to test their latest innovations.
With the massive crowd both curious and eager to experience new horizons, there’s no better opportunity for Heineken to share new products—like they did last year unrolling the Dutch brewery’s latest innovation: Heineken Silver. A new light beer that actually tastes like beer, one whose lower carbs and crispness refreshed a sun-beaten crowd battling the desert heat.
Lupe Fiasco at the 2024 Coachella Heineken House (Priscilla Rodriguez)
Guests of the House this year, including celebrities such as Renee Rapp, Lukas Gage (White Lotus, Euphoria, American Vandal, etc.) and Olympian/actor/YouTuber Gus Kenworthy, were treated to a wide spectrum of artists from household names to underground stars.
From current Spotify favorites to revered legends. For Weekend 1, two sets in particular were so rabidly attended the line stretched hundreds of yards, wrapping around to the Indio Central Market food court, eventually shutting down entrance to the Heineken House.
With the 5,000-capacity open venue literally filled to the fences, hip-hop producer, hit maker and all-around superstar T-Pain showered the crowd with his Saturday sunset performance, surprising the audience not only with shockingly agile dance moves but also impressive vocal skills. Makes one wonder: why all the Autotune, big fella?
Next up on Sunday Lupe Fiasco commandeered the stage like the seasoned pro he is, compelling the wild capacity crowd to sing along to a barrage of hits. Among the throng one could see Tyler, The Creator and Travis Bennett (aka Elz from Dave) head-bobbing and dancing for over an hour. At one point Tyler climbed up on stage and performed “Paris, Tokyo” with the renowned set Chicago lyricist, bringing hip-hop heads to a full boil.
Emily Mei at the 2024 Coachella Heineken House (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Heineken)
Other standouts included Channel Tres, Claptone, BIA and Bob Sinclair playing a remix-filled set of commercial anthems. Meanwhile house legends Skream back-to-back with Dennis Ferrer not only crafted an impeccable set worthy of these two London-to-New York icons, but also underscored the savvy and knowledge behind the musical curation of the Heineken House.
With Fat Joe subbing in for T-Pain this upcoming Saturday, Weekend Two could possibly offer even more fun.
“We want to create that brand love. We’re creating a moment here with T Pain last night and Lupe Fiasco tonight where Heineken is going to be part of this person’s journey,” Karimi adds of the goals the team has for this robust Heineken House activation.
(Heineken)
“Hopefully they’re drinking and enjoying it, so when they leave here we become part of their daily world.”
Coachella 2024 Weekend 2 continues April 19-21—check out the main-stage headliners below:
Friday, April 19, 2024
Lana Del Rey (11:20)
Peso Pluma (9:05)
Lil Uzi Vert (7:35)
Sabrina Carpenter (6:00)
Young Miko (4:45)
Jacqk Glam (3:40)
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Tyler, the Creator (11:40)
No Doubt (9:25)
Blur (7:40)
Sublime (6:05)
Santa Fe Klan (4:45)
Record Safari (3:45)
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Doja Cat (10:25)
J Balvin (8:15)
Bebe Rexha (6:50)
Carin León (5:25)
YG Marley (4:05)
Ludmilla (2:05)
Follow Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.