6 Tips To Planning Your Perfect Coachella Trip
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This morning, the massive 2015 lineup for Coachella arrived. After releasing their 2014 recap video Desert Parralax a few weeks ago, the festival have now released their huge bill for this year’s event headlined by AC/DC, Drake and Jack White.
The huge 161-band lineup also includes performances from Interpol, The Weeknd, Alt-J, FKA Twigs, Florence and the Machine, The War On Drugs, St Vincent, David Guetta, Steely Dan, Caribou and many, many more.
Apart from AC/DC, other local acts leading the charge for Australia are Tame Impala, Angus and Julia Stone, Vance Joy, Chet Faker, Alison Wonderland, What So Not and adopted Australian-via-New Zealand Kimbra.
Coachella 2015 takes place at Palm Springs, California from April 10-12 and April 17-19, hosting the same lineup over two separate weekends.
Here’s a few tips to organise a fuss-free festival experience.
#1 Tickets
Coachella sells out, and quickly. Figure out exactly when tickets go on sale in your time zone and get a head start on your ticket purchasing now – register a purchase account ahead of time at coachella.com. Also, it’s easier to get tickets for weekend two than it is for weekend one, so be mindful of this when you’re planning.
#2 Plan ahead
Book you travel, accommodation and on-ground transport as soon as you have your festival tickets. The influx of festival-goers to Los Angeles and Palm Springs means things book up pretty quickly. There’s also a bunch of satellite after parties and pool hangs that aren’t officially associated with Coachella, some open to the public, some ticketed, some RSVP only and some strictly guest listed. Do your research online before you go to make sure you aren’t turned away.
#3 Welcome to LA
There’s more to the City of Angels than Hollywood Boulevard and Disneyland. Spend some time exploring the different sides of Los Angeles. Read our guide to the real LA, or delve deeper and check out our destination guide to Los Angeles featuring news and features – we even recommend burger joints that are better than the famed In-N-Out.
#4 Pack light
Show me someone who says lugging a heavy suitcase around the scorching Californian desert is fun and I’ll show you a liar. If you need to, try and find somewhere in Los Angeles to leave the bulk of your luggage and only take what you need for the weekend. Coachella is hot during the day with temperatures plunging at night, so take the bare minimum you can afford to that will keep you comfortable for the varying temperatures. Pre-plan your outfits and work out what will be practical – for example, a weight-distributing backpack might be easier to carry for the day than a heavy bag slung over one shoulder.
#5 Work out a game plan (then break it)
With over 160 bands on the bill, Coachella 2015 will surely be a sensory overload. Once they release the set times, make a rough guide to which acts you most want to see and work around that. Once you arrive, sort out meeting points and times with your friends in case phone reception is scarce or you run out of battery. Keep in mind that walking through the huge crowds also adds minutes to your journey between stages so be flexible. That said, it’s also important to break your plan and go with the flow. Don’t walk past a band you love because your friends want to go to the bar.
#6 And the rest
Again, take something warm to wear at night, pack a bandana in case a sand storm blows in, be sunsafe in the pounding desert heat, drinks lots of water and put your phone on aeroplane mode to prevent your battery draining. Don’t be that guy who is passed out at 2pm. Make smart decisions and give your friends back home something to be jealous of.
(Lead image: Thomas Hawk/Flickr)
You won’t regret going. Check out Qantas flights to Los Angeles here.
www.awol.com.au