Coachella

This article is about the festival. For the city, see Coachella, California. For other uses, see Coachella (disambiguation).

Coachella
Coachella in 2018
GenreRock, pop, indie, hip hop, electronic dance music
DatesConsecutive 3-day weekends in April (currently)
Location(s)Empire Polo Club
(Indio, California, U.S.)
Coordinates33°40′41″N 116°14′02″W / 33.678°N 116.234°W / 33.678; -116.234
Years active1999, 2001–2019, 2022–present
FoundersPaul Tollett and Rick Van Santen
Attendance250,000 (2017, two-weekend total)
Capacity125,000[1]
Organized byGoldenvoice
Websitecoachella.com

Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents.[2] The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.

The festival's origins trace back to a 1993 concert that Pearl Jam performed at the Empire Polo Club while boycotting venues controlled by Ticketmaster. The show validated the site's viability for hosting large events, leading to the inaugural Coachella Festival being held over the course of two days in October 1999, three months after Woodstock '99. After no event was held in 2000, Coachella returned on an annual basis beginning in April 2001 as a single-day event. In 2002, the festival reverted to a two-day format. Coachella was expanded to a third day in 2007 and eventually a second weekend in 2012; it is now held on consecutive three-day weekends in April, with the same lineup each weekend. Organizers began permitting spectators to camp on the grounds in 2003, one of several expansions and additions in the festival's history. The festival was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. It is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world.[4][5] Each Coachella staged from 2013 to 2015 set new records for festival attendance and gross revenues. The 2017 festival was attended by 250,000 people and grossed $114.6 million. Coachella's success led to Goldenvoice establishing additional music festivals at the site, beginning with the annual Stagecoach country music festival in 2007.

  1. ^ "Harry Styles' Coachella Crowd Topped 100,000 During Opening-Night Performance". www.variety.com. April 20, 2022. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  2. ^ Cromelin, Richard (January 3, 2004). "Rick Van Santen, 41; L.A. Promoter Helped to Advance Punk Rock Bands". Los Angeles Times. p. B18. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  3. ^ Melas, Chloe; Gonzalez, Sandra (March 10, 2020). "Coachella to be postponed over coronavirus concerns, sources say". CNN. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  4. ^ Martens, Todd (April 8, 2014). "Goldenvoice releases Coachella set times, adds to the lineup". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  5. ^ "7 Top Music Festivals Around The World – Tripoetic Blog". Tripoetic Blog. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.