Coachella

Tiffany Sun

April 25, 2025

Throngs of people converge at Indio, California, for 2 consecutive weekends in April. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is one of the most popular music festivals in the world, featuring hundreds of top-notch celebrities and singers worldwide.

This year, Coachella was held on April 11-13 and April 18-20, featuring artists such as Jennie, Lady Gaga, Lisa, beabadobee, Post Malone, Travis Scott, ENHYPEN, and nearly 150 different artists. Apart from music, Coachella also sports a crazy variety of activities, foods, and games. You can run a relay, play dodgeball, take the Ferris wheel, or enjoy quieter activities such as arts & crafts, relax in a hammock, and enjoy the food. Coachella hosts food stalls with every type of food imaginable: from Buldak to banh mi, from smash burgers to Japanese sandos, from Italian sandwiches to hand-pulled noodles (Warning: the food is generally on the pricier side). General admission Coachella tickets cost around $600.

Ironically, Coachella does not take place in Coachella city, but rather Indio, which is part of the Coachella Valley in general. The valley is part of Southern California's Colorado Desert, which allows this music festival to be held completely outdoors without fear of chilly weather in mid-April.

More interestingly, the term “Coachella” is actually a typo. Back in 1901, the Southern Pacific Railroad extended to where Coachella is now, and from there, a town sprang up. Originally, the town was to be called “Conchilla,” which means “little shell” in Spanish, named after the fossils in the region. However, the prospectus accidentally had “Coachella” printed on it instead of “Conchilla,” and the developers decided to go with it, even though “Coachella” doesn’t mean anything in English or Spanish.

Coachella was first debuted in 1999 by Rick Van Santen and Paul Tollett, and organized by the company Goldenvoice. Santen and Tollett were inspired by the increasingly popular music festivals seen abroad, such as those in Glastonbury. It wasn’t all smooth sailing from the start; in fact, in Coachella’s first year, the company lost $750,000. This was partly due to the blazing hot Southern California weather, lack of corporate sponsors, and the violence seen at Woodstock ‘99. However, after a one-year break, Coachella returned in 2001, and tickets sold out.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become a trademark of Southern California and has brought a huge influx of people and profit to the desert city. With unique outfits, diverse clothing styles, global foods, and new music, Coachella is an event of a lifetime worth experiencing if you love music and exploration; it’s a meshing of 100+ concerts with a whirlwind of other activities to experience and foods to sample.