Coachella Evolution

Jason Persse from Brooklyn, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Coachella throughout the years compared to this year.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which is commonly known as Coachella, has become one of the most iconic and influential music festivals in the world. Coachella has grown from being only a music festival to being an art, fashion, and broader cultural event.  

This famous celebration was founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in October 1999. The event is held in the Coachella Valley of Indio, California, at the Empire Polo Club. It was originally a two-day festival and featured popular headliners like Rage Against the Machine, but financial challenges led to a hiatus in 2000. Fortunately, Coachella returned in 2001 with a more diverse lineup of musicians. 

Don’t overlook the art showcased at this event. This festival brings in many past and current projects from talented artists, designers, and architects.  One popular installation from 2023 by Kumkum Fernando was inspired by Sri Lanka’s folktales of gods. Sri Lanka has folktales about robots as well. “The fusion of Asian cultural elements with futuristic designs in my sculptures is a natural expression of my artistic vision,” Fernando said. 

Fernando was just one of the many artists over the past years who installed projects that showed the audience their perspective visually during Coachella. 

Maureen.gi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Also, this festival has many activities for guests such as camping, classic games, raffles, and dance competitions. There is an art studio for people to create jewelry. The festival also has an area called “Field of Dreams” where there are many more fun activities such as potato sack races and human Tic Tac Toe.  

Coachella is embracing more eco-friendly practices that help sustain the environment. The event has an energy playground, where guests who use a seesaw charge phones while learning about energy production. Likewise, the festival holds an event called “Carpoolchella” where festival attendees who carpool to save gas money and CO2 emissions have a chance to win prizes. 

Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Over the years, Coachella has evolved with a wide genre of performances from rock to hip-pop and electronic dance music. For example, in 2011, Kings of Leon and Kanye West performed, and in 2023 Bad Bunny and BLACKPINK performed. The festival is known for its wide range of musicians and performances of their popular songs. 

This year’s Coachella is being held on April 12-13 and April 19-20, 2024. The lineup is full of popular artists such as Lana Del Ray, Tyler the Creator, Doja Cat, and many more. If you can’t travel to California, the event will also be livestreamed on YouTube, which fans have dubbed “Couchella”. 

Coachella 2024 Full Lineup via Pitchfork