26 Tips to Survive Your First Time at Coachella

ByVictoria Philpott Last Updated:

The best thing you can do to ensure your first time at Coachella  goes smoothly is to be prepared. As a Coachella festival veteran (Well I went last year) I’m here to show you exactly how you can be as prepared as possible so all you need to focus on is which stage your favourite band are playing, Coachella fashion and making sure you’ve enough stamina to go for it all day and night.

first time at coachella

1. Get there on Thursday morning

We arrived at about 11am on Thursday which in hindsight was perfect. We were close enough to the arena gates to be able to go back to our tents for a drink and far enough away to not be too close to all the people who were staying in hotels nearby and staggered around the entrance after the chucked everyone out.

Arriving at Coachella on the Thursday is a great idea. The campsite opens at 9am and it’s the perfect opportunity to get in the festival mood first. You can get a good spot and check out the area where you’ll be spending the next few nights too.

There’s no action in the main arena at Coachella on a Thursday but there are a few events in the smaller arena off the campsite.

2. Get involved with Carpoolchella

We made the journey from our hotel in Palm Springs to Coachella Festival in 30 minutes at about 10am on the Thursday. Along the way we saw loads of people getting in the spirit of things and joining the Carpoolchella car decoration competition. Unfortunately with everything else we had to think about we hadn’t got round to joining this – you can win loads of stuff if you do though.

3. Be patient with getting in to Coachella

We joined the queue to get in the festival. It only took us about five minutes to get to the first checkpoint. We showed our wristbands and they literally whooped us in. One of the biggest USPs of Coachella is the fact that all the staff are so friendly. Everyone was telling us to have a ‘Happy Coachella!’ and giving out high fives.

We joined the queue to get our car checked. We joined a bad queue. The group of teenage guys in front of us were getting their car totally raided. The security team pulled out his speakers, took out the spare wheel and were checking every part of it – all good entertainment for us and the kid seemed to be taking it pretty well.

“I’m sorry I lied. We’re just trying to have a good time ok?”

He was probably terrified they wouldn’t let him in.