I SURVIVED COACHELLA
So Coachella has always been a priority on my bucket list and now I can say I survived it! I learned a lot from going, some things I picked up from friends who have been before (thank you for answering all of my annoying questions - you know who you are) and other things I learned myself. I thought I would share my experience and mini guide for going to the festival if you decide to go one day (which you should).
Which weekend to go?
Coachella runs over two weekends, we chose weekend one which is the one most people go to and most celebrities go to. If you want a less busy experience then the second weekend is a little more laid back and a lot of locals in Palm Springs choose to go. If your superhuman then you could go to both.
Which weekend to go?
Coachella runs over two weekends, we chose weekend one which is the one most people go to and most celebrities go to. If you want a less busy experience then the second weekend is a little more laid back and a lot of locals in Palm Springs choose to go. If your superhuman then you could go to both.
How to get tickets and accomodation?
We booked our tickets and hotel package almost 8 months before, however there are different packages you can get almost right up until the event. We decided to book this all via the Coachella website so it was legit and not a scam + it was actually super affordable. It included our 3 day passes, 5 star accommodation & shuttle passes to and from the event each day which was about 30min away. It turns out Palm Springs is HUGE, well a lot bigger than I originally thought. We had friends that stayed in hotels that were about an hour shuttle / drive to the event, so prepare yourself for the shuttle to and from the event each day and maybe pick a hotel that is closer. The JW Marriott where we stayed was amazing and I would recommend staying there, it had an amazing pool, real flamingos (highlight) and everything you needed at the hotel. Some of the bigger hotels like the Hilton had massive pool party with famous DJ's each day before Coachella, this is something to look into as well if you want to start your day earlier.
Will I see famous people?
Yes if you lucky! We saw loads of Australian celebs we recognised roaming or walking between stages but your big celebrities like artists and the Jenners etc hide away in artist and VIP tents and lounges! You can buy VIP tickets though.
What to wear?
Ok so anything goes, I mean its COACHELLA... one of the biggest festival fashion events in the world right. I was actually so stressed about what the heck I would wear before going, I normally wear whatever I want to events and am so prepared with my clothes in advance but I felt so much pressure to look "cool". I had some nightmare items arrive that I had ordered online, one was too small one looked terrible and I found myself about 2 weeks out with nothing to wear to any of the days.. it was a NIGHTMARE for me who is super outfit organised. It also can get so expensive so I totally put my outfits together on a budget. My entire trip to Coachella and America was pricey enough already so Sara (my babe in all the snaps) and I actually shopped on ASOS, Lioness, Verge Girl and Glassons to find fun festival outfits which were all really reasonably well priced and had quick shipping.
I think as long as your conformable (so you can go crazy dancing) and then also take a long sleeve for the evening (as it could get colder once the sun went down) then you cant go wrong. There were so many amazing outfits to stalk on people once there and that was so fun to see, I had major outfit envy over so many people. Oh but also so important - good shoes! Your standing for well over 12 hours, walking a lot and dancing all day so you need flat shoes or boots that will last. I made the mistake of wearing new boots the first two days and my feet are literally still recovering now from it with blister scars (gross).
We booked our tickets and hotel package almost 8 months before, however there are different packages you can get almost right up until the event. We decided to book this all via the Coachella website so it was legit and not a scam + it was actually super affordable. It included our 3 day passes, 5 star accommodation & shuttle passes to and from the event each day which was about 30min away. It turns out Palm Springs is HUGE, well a lot bigger than I originally thought. We had friends that stayed in hotels that were about an hour shuttle / drive to the event, so prepare yourself for the shuttle to and from the event each day and maybe pick a hotel that is closer. The JW Marriott where we stayed was amazing and I would recommend staying there, it had an amazing pool, real flamingos (highlight) and everything you needed at the hotel. Some of the bigger hotels like the Hilton had massive pool party with famous DJ's each day before Coachella, this is something to look into as well if you want to start your day earlier.
Will I see famous people?
Yes if you lucky! We saw loads of Australian celebs we recognised roaming or walking between stages but your big celebrities like artists and the Jenners etc hide away in artist and VIP tents and lounges! You can buy VIP tickets though.
What to wear?
Ok so anything goes, I mean its COACHELLA... one of the biggest festival fashion events in the world right. I was actually so stressed about what the heck I would wear before going, I normally wear whatever I want to events and am so prepared with my clothes in advance but I felt so much pressure to look "cool". I had some nightmare items arrive that I had ordered online, one was too small one looked terrible and I found myself about 2 weeks out with nothing to wear to any of the days.. it was a NIGHTMARE for me who is super outfit organised. It also can get so expensive so I totally put my outfits together on a budget. My entire trip to Coachella and America was pricey enough already so Sara (my babe in all the snaps) and I actually shopped on ASOS, Lioness, Verge Girl and Glassons to find fun festival outfits which were all really reasonably well priced and had quick shipping.
I think as long as your conformable (so you can go crazy dancing) and then also take a long sleeve for the evening (as it could get colder once the sun went down) then you cant go wrong. There were so many amazing outfits to stalk on people once there and that was so fun to see, I had major outfit envy over so many people. Oh but also so important - good shoes! Your standing for well over 12 hours, walking a lot and dancing all day so you need flat shoes or boots that will last. I made the mistake of wearing new boots the first two days and my feet are literally still recovering now from it with blister scars (gross).
Coachella
- Take a bandana! If you follow me on snapchat you will see I wore one each day. This was key (I also felt super gangster wearing), but there is high winds and dust storms and you need the bandana to protect you from them.
- Allow 45 minutes to get in! The lines got longer each day and you definitely need to allow time to walk in and get past all the security checks. + If you want an R21 wrist band to buy drinks you will have to line up seperate daily for this. The lines aren't bad but I would suggest going earlier in the day... the later it gets the longer the lines.
- Take a bandana! If you follow me on snapchat you will see I wore one each day. This was key (I also felt super gangster wearing), but there is high winds and dust storms and you need the bandana to protect you from them.
- Allow 45 minutes to get in! The lines got longer each day and you definitely need to allow time to walk in and get past all the security checks. + If you want an R21 wrist band to buy drinks you will have to line up seperate daily for this. The lines aren't bad but I would suggest going earlier in the day... the later it gets the longer the lines.
- Get the Coachella App! Yes they have there own app, so cool right? This was so helpful for putting together a schedule and planning who to see when. (Also a shootout to my friend Ty who is festival King, he actually wrote me a schedule of events before I went).
- Ferris Wheel, you have to go on this as it gives you the most amazing view of the entire festival and you look over all the people and stages and everyone is so tiny like ants. Its pretty surreal seeing all the people, camp and stages from that high! A friend told me to do the ferris wheel on the second day (best advice ever Alice), there was literally no line to go up and so we didn't have to wait. The hype of the ferris wheel makes lots of people go one day 1, and then if you've forgotten the rush to go happens on day 3... so choose day 2! We went right as the sun was about to set it was beauuttifullll.
- FOOD. Ok so the food is amazing, there are so many amazing food stalls though so get there early and eat your heart out and try as much as you can - I wish we had tried more.
To sum everything up it was AMAZING. Thanks to my soul sister Sara for being the best festival buddy ever and well done for surviving three days at your first festival.
M x
M x
