Coachella | Festival, History, Performers, & Facts

Coachella, annual rock festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, featuring music on multiple stages.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival began in October 1999 as a two-day festival. Beck and Rage Against the Machine headlined, and more than 25,000 people attended, but the festival failed to make money. It was held just months after the disastrous Woodstock ’99, and it was unclear if promoters could turn a profit on a weekend-long multistage event. Coachella’s organizers took a year off and then brought the festival back as a one-day event in April 2001. (The change in month was also an effort to avoid high temperatures in the desert heat.) Coachella returned to a two-day format the following April and expanded to a third day in 2010. Two years later it became a six-day event, spread across two consecutive weekends.

Although electronic music tends to be better represented at Coachella than at other festivals, lineups have included the top names in rock, pop, and hip-hop, with a blend of emerging artists and established performers. Organizers remained committed to keeping the festival fresh, and very few acts have made repeat appearances. Headlining artists have included Madonna, Jay-Z, Portishead, Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Megan Thee Stallion, and Bad Bunny. High-profile reunions were also a fixture of the festival, with groups such as Pavement, Faith No More, the Specials, and Iggy and the Stooges taking to the stage for the first time in years.

Aside from experiencing music performances, attendees can view art (especially sculpture) and enjoy food and drink. In 2010 organizers angered some attendees by eliminating single-day tickets in favour of full three-day festival passes. Attendance was not hurt, however, and Coachella set a record by attracting about 75,000 people each day. By the early 2020s, average daily attendance was about 125,000.