What to Expect Camping at Coachella

So you’ve decided you want to camp at Coachella? This will be the best/worst decision! Camping was by far my favorite part of Coachella BUT it was a major pain at the same time as far as getting in and out of the campsite and could have been made soooo much more efficient.

Logistics of camping

Getting to Coachella

Camping is first-come first-serve…I left Orange County at 1am ON THUSRDAY which the festival doesn’t even start until Friday (yes I didn’t sleep) and got to Indio at 4am. I was in line for security and then to the group meet up area for I kid you not 5 hours.

Security took forever because they were looking in each cars cooler and imagine that being buried under all your camping gear and having to dig it out and then repack your car in a single-file line. They did have multiple lines going at least but some people got through security in 20 minutes others took 2 hours depending on the line which is why the group wait area was a gridlock because everyone was waiting for their friends that they arrived at the exact same time with but got separated by hours just from the security checkpoint.

I did not park until 9am, meaning I pulled an all nighter and was in the car for 8 hours all for the privilege to park in my campsite a whole day before the festival begins meaning I had to take Thursday and Friday off of work. It was the most inefficient process I have ever seen. Apparently this is the worst its every been and it was better in prior years…but I am scarred. Parking staff legit just were walking away and not helping the gridlock by the group wait area either. Guess they don’t get paid enough to care.

Camping with friends

If you do not go with your group of friends at the same time and do not wait for each other in this spot YOU CANNOT CAMP TOGETHER. So that mean’t if one person wanted to go at 4am EVERYONE is going at 4am. You also need your car parked in the physical spot, meaning you can’t just save a spot by putting up a tent next to you for car camping. So the only other option for not going with the group is finding someone else to drive your car or an extra car and you park away from the festival and uber in with all of your crap with a very long walk…

Leaving Coachella

To make matters worse, you can’t leave until after the concert ends at 2am on Sunday which mean’t I left at 5am on Monday morning (not sleeping much again) and hit rush hour traffic by the time I got back into Orange County. Most people would have taken this additional day off work, meaning a total of 5, not 3 days are needed for the 3 day concert. Kind of annoying for me considering I made a trip to London in the same amount of time once, so if your days off are precious this is a consideration! 

The experience of camping

Okay, that was a lot of the annoying up front ends of camping, but I truly would recommend camping. I cannot tell you how convenient it was and how much fun it is to be packed in with all of your friends.

Partying

We were really close to the festival. We were a mere 10 rows back from the entrance of the festival so I guess some would say it is worth it. I do admit a few days in the festival I had already forgotten the whole fiasco and was so happy of our spot. The campgrounds are basically a giant party. We had about 15 sites all next to each other with all the beer games you could think of set up. We spent the beginning of our days playing rage cage, beer pong, and corn hole. For me I could have done this all day even over going and seeing the music, but of course we did come to all the way to Coachella to see artists!

Convenience

I also much prefer this over an expensive Uber and the wait to get in from the Uber drop off area. There is something to be said about a 10 minute walk home after the concert ends too! Just 10 minutes and free walk in between you and bed 

Silent Disco

There is also a silent disco you can go to after the concert ends if you still have adrenaline pumping. This is right next to the campsites and does make it loud until 1:30am before they turn over to silent – you wear headphones that they give you so you can still hear the music. It’s actually really cool and you should definitely try it!

Weather

One warning for camping, if gets really hot!!! It is the desert after all. After living in Arizona this wasn’t a shock to me. We got a pretty mild weekend with temperatures in the mid 80s to low 90s. For much of the world that is pretty hot. Especially during the heat of the day you can start to feel the heat get to you. Wear sunscreen and drink lots of water. Butttttt as soon as the sun goes down, as it is the desert, it is cold!!

Enjoy your camping experience and try not to get too frustrated with the process! Want to know more about the overall experience of Coachella check out my post here.