This year was the return of so many iconic art pieces from the past. Starting off with the most important of them all, the return of the moving astronaut by Poetic Kinetics. The famous astronaut hasn't been seen since 2015 and was painted and revamped before he crash landed back into Coachella 6 years later. The Hippo’s “Corporate Headquarters” was also brought back from 2015, but with a spaceman theme to coincide with the Astronaut. This new installation, called H.I.P.O. (Hazardous Interstellar Professional Operations), was a fun take on the original piece where you can walk around and see different Hippos doing random activities. The Spectra (Rainbow Tower) returned from last year and is a fun interactive art piece where you can walk up 7-stories to get an incredible and colorful view of the festival!
While there is so much to do at Coachella, it's always great to sit and relax in the grass and take in the beautiful scenery. From the perfectly aligned palm trees to the purple and pink sunsets over the mountains, it really is the perfect place to relax and stare up into the sky.
Aaaaaand let’s not forget about the food. There are endless places to eat with Coachella serving up everything from Chinese, churros, pizza and more. Some of my top favorites are Trejos Tacos, Spicy Pie, Afters Ice Cream, Acai Bowls and Smoothies, Shake Shack, and Sweetfin.
Coachella is the place to be for trendsetters and creating that ultimate festival look. This was the year of neon, cowboys, fringe, mesh and sparkles. The neon looks were edgy with chains, black accessories and chunky boots. The cowboy and fringe looks were straight out of Stagecoach Festival with a boho twist. This year, festival goers left the typical bohemian outfit at home and really stepped out into sparkles, sequins and mesh, creating more of a rave look.
Since Coachella is located in the middle of the desert in Indio, California, it can get very hot out there and it's important to be prepared. Here are my top 5 must-haves at Coachella:
1. Hydration Pack - Fill up your hydration pack at one of the FREE water stations around the festival.
2. Sunscreen - Don't underestimate the desert heat and remember... you're not stronger than the sun!
3. Bandana - Although there was a lot more grass this year, the Polo grounds can get super dusty so it's important to cover your face to avoid getting the post Coachella-flu.
4. Comfortable shoes - We all want to dress cute for the photos but trust me when I say I walked over 20 miles at Coachella just from walking stage to stage each day!
5. External phone charger - It's not always easy getting service in the middle of the desert, so make sure to have a full charge for when you need to find your friends at the end of the night.
Let’s get into the most important part of Coachella, and why we were really there... THE MUSIC! The EDM was strong this year from legends Zedd, Bassnectar and Dillon Francis. Production was on FLEEK with the new Yuma tent design and included endless techno brought to us by Charlotte De Witte, Cirez D, Amelie Lens Tale of US and more. DoLab really stepped up their game making a brand-new stage almost double in size! This gave us more room to dance and enjoy the vibez of the house music!
Live music is very important and another reason I love Coachella. This festival offers so many different genres to explore with over 8 different stages of music. Top live performers included: Weezer, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Tame Impala, and Rufus Du Sol to name a few.
