Coachella is one of the most highly anticipated music and arts festivals held every year in the Coachella Valley. The first Coachella was in 1999, and since then Coachella has had 25 years of great music, art, and outfits.
One of the things that sets Coachella apart from other music festivals is that they have highly popular and established musical artists perform. This year Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, and Doja Cat headlined the festival. Not only does Coachella have the biggest names in music performing, but it also has a very diverse line up. Coachella showcases artists from the realms of Ice Spice and Lil Uzi Vert in Rap, Faye Webster and Suki Waterhouse in Indie Alternative, Sabrina Carpenter and Renee Rapp in Pop, and so many other genres this year.
Another important aspect of Coachella is fashion. It was in the early 2010s that Coachella first became a “street style event”. Styles and trends come and go, but one thing stands true, outfits are very important to Coachella. There are countless articles, posts, and videos revolving around the style and celebrity outfits at Coachella. This year because of headliner Lana Del Rey a popular trend was incorporating bows into outfits and a modernized vintage look. There also was some controversy this year about if the over the top outfits were still necessary. Some think that the “Coachella look” is a thing of the past. While others think that it is part of what makes Coachella “Coachella”.
With all of this in mind it’s hard not to wonder “why did Coachella flop” its first weekend? The first weekend of Coachella 2024, April 12-14, had huge headliners like Tyler the Creator, great guest performances like Billie Eilish, and fun celebrity fashion like the trend of bows. So why was the first weekend deemed such a bust by social media? With lower attendance than years past there’s a pretty easy answer to that question. The crowd just wasn’t into it. Coachella is held to very high expectations. This year, the crowd did not think that the chosen artists met those expectations for the price tickets were being sold at.
There have been complaints of raised prices for less artists. General admission tickets, pre-covid, were about $429 for three-day passes. This year a three-day general admission pass was $499. In 2022 a three-day pass cost $449. That’s an 11% increase in two years. Not only have prices gone up, but the general public is also considering the lineup “watered down” and “weak”. People aren’t willing to pay such high-ticket prices for what they consider a mediocre lineup.
Due to these factors, Coachella didn’t sell out even the cheapest tickets for weekend two. On top of that, getting to the festival itself is expensive, and once people are in the festival, they have to pay $64 for a burrito and $25 for a cocktail. To a lot of people, it is simply not worth the cost. Another issue Coachella has run into this year is a “tired, lame, and bored” crowd. Many people have considered this year’s crowd vibe to be completely off. Compared to years in the past it makes sense that a “boring” crowd would ruin the festival.
As for the future of Coachella, who knows. Weekend 2 of Coachella was similar to the first weekend in ticket sales and general vibe of the festival. Although with the No Doubt reunion during weekend two Coachella has begun to earn back some of the wow factor. Things may be looking up for Coachella.
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