The long awaited weekend has finally come. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival is fast approaching. You’ve been practicing your dance moves for months, challenging your endurance, and taking a tolerance break from alcohol so every $10 craft beer counts. The only problem is, after spending $400+ on your festival pass and even more on lodging and food for the weekend, you want everything to go perfectly. ENTITY’s got you covered with the ultimate Coachella survival guide.
Before the Festival:
Get your body in top physical shape before the 3 day long party you’re about to enter. Make sure you’re well fed, well rested, and stocked up in vital nutrients before heading to Indio.
Hydrate yourself. Actually, over-hydrate yourself. What the sun doesn’t suck out of you will be sweated or washed away with all the alcohol you’ll be drinking.
Acclimate to the weather before you arrive. If you’re from a temperate climate, your body is going to reject the 100 degree weather. (This also plays into getting your body in top physical shape.)
Make a game plan. When the lineup comes out, find one of the million Coachella playlists online and figure out who you want to see. Once they release the schedule, set up a little map of the day for yourself. (Don’t get too attached to your schedule! Nothing always goes exactly as planned, so go with the flow.)
Where To Stay:
Hotels: The hotels in Indio and the surrounding area are booked very quickly. They’re expensive and make traveling to the festival each day a chore. However, they do have real beds, so that’s something.
AirBNB: If you want to stay in a real lodging without paying insane hotel prices, try finding a place on AirBNB. Find a cool couch to sleep on. Better yet, try to fit you and your five other friends on queen bed in someone’s guest room. The possibilities are endless!
Camping: It’s customary for virgin Coachella-goers to camp for their first year. The campgrounds are super close to the festival, so you can go in and out of the festival throughout the day to change outfits, recharge, and take those few shots you need to get you through the day.
Camping Tips:
A canopy tent will be your best friend and your worst enemy at Coachella. Don’t underestimate the value of shade. Even with the shade, the air itself will be hot, so you’ll want to protect yourself from the sun in any way you can. Unfortunately, Coachella winds hate canopy tents. The 2015 campgrounds were a scene of broken metal rods in huge piles from the intense wind during the day. Take down the canopy tops of your tents and stake them down please.
Go to the free showers early! Midday is the busiest time of day for showers, so beat the crowds by going early. Also, don’t pay $10 for the “luxury showers.” The free showers are amazing.
Head to the General Store if you forgot anything at home. They’ve got everything from flip flops to lighters to hats.
The ice truck drives around the camping area full of bags of ice if you want to chill your perishables! There will definitely be a campsite with a kiddie pool that someone filled up with ice and a sign that says, “Free Swims!” hoping that hot girls will be overheated enough to take them up on the offer.
What to Bring:
Portable Water Bottle: You probably don’t want to be carrying a crunched up half filled water bottle all day. Bring your own! Make sure it’s empty before you come into the festival, or they’ll make you dump it out. (Pro Tip: Buy one with a wristlet attached!)
Your Charger: There are plenty of charging stations around the festival. If you do use one, just keep your eyes on your phone. Tons of external chargers and phones get stolen, so don’t let your phone be one of them!
Positive Attitude: No matter what may go awry, try to make your Coachella experience the best it can possibly be! Roll with the punches and it’ll be an unforgettable weekend.
Coachella Checklist: Tons of people have compiled their personal Coachella checklists and posted them online. There are far too many items to write in this article, so check out a list and see if anything new dawns on you.
What Not to Bring:
Super Valuable Stuff: Leave your computer and favorite watch at home. If you bring your fancy camera, make sure to take a picture of yourself and contact info on it. That way, someone will know how to contact you if they find it.
Your Obnoxious Friend: You know the one. That guy who gets way too drunk before the festival starts, and then bumps his way to the front, spilling beer everywhere on his way. Coachella is full of them, so you don’t need to add any to the mix.
Anything That Will Melt: It will melt. Those cute cheese slices you bought will be a cute puddle when you get back to the car.
Culturally Offensive Costumes: Leave your headdress at home. Just because you saw it on a cute picture on Tumblr does not make it any less distasteful.
What To Do:
Eat dank food! Unlike years past, Coachella has become a mecca for great food. The gyros is killer. The pizza is amazing. Grab a watermelon wedge if you’re hungry for a cute Instagram photo.
Dance at the Silent Disco! Once the festival ends, which is pretty early each night, you’ll probably still be hyped up and ready to party. Head over to the Silent Disco, where they’ll give you a pair of Bluetooth headphones and dance your pants off to amazing beats. If dancing isn’t your thing, watching everyone dancing to complete silence can be fun, too.
Get your face melted at the Do Lab. The bass is so heavy that you can hear it before you even see the stage. The best dancers and ravers will be at the Do Lab, drenched in sweat and loving life.
Damage Control:
If your car battery dies and you have AAA, don’t worry! They will let them in to charge your car battery.
With these tips, you’ll be ready to take Coachella by storm. Forget all those blackout drunk and under-prepared Coachella horror stories. This is your weekend. You’re going to look amazing, have the time of your life, and absolutely kill it.
