By Jessica Miller
Arts Editor
With a lively atmosphere and a wide variety of talented artists, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival may have surpassed Disneyland for the title of the happiest place on Earth.
Despite this year’s disappointing art installations, Coachella 2016 was still a weekend to remember with an impressive lineup consisting of a plethora of music genres, delectable food and a variety of entertaining activities for attendees.
Coachella is an annual two-weekend, three-day music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. It was founded by Paul Tollett in 1999 and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidary of Anschutz Entertainment Group. It features many genres of music including electronic dance music, rock, indie and hip hop, as well as art installations and sculptures.
The festival has five main stages: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, and the Sahara Tent. Coachella offers single-day or three-day passes and allows visitors to purchase overnight camping passes.
The main highlight of Coachella is its incorporation of artists from all different genres. This year, the festival showcased a variety of performances, from popular electronic dance music artists such as Calvin Harris and Disclosure, to alternative artists like James Bay and the 1975. This variety makes the festival more engaging for visitors who like more than one type of music, as it allows festivalgoers to concert hop different types of music as they please.
Another enjoyable aspect of Coachella 2016 was its assortment of appetizing food options. The cuisine included heavenly ice-cream-stuffed doughnuts from Afters Ice Cream, an ice cream shop based in Southern California, as well as the festival’s new addition of a juicy fried chicken sandwich and crispy potatoes from Free Range, a food truck with American cuisine that is based in Los Angeles. With these options and the addition of several vegan restaurants, Coachella has the ability to appeal to people with different tastes.
Additionally, the festival succeeds at providing activities for festivalgoers by allowing visitors to enjoy beautiful views at the top of the ferris wheel or dance in the Do LaB. The festival also had a new feature this year, allowing visitors to charge their phones and connect to Wi-Fi in several locations. These accomodations ensure that festivalgoers always have something to do even when they are not at one of the five main stages.
Despite Coachella’s many impressive features, this year’s art installations were unsatisfying compared to the art from past years. The sculpture titled “The Tower of Twelve Stories” was composed of abstract, large white shapes and looked beautiful lit up with colors at night but uninteresting during the day due to its lack of color. The festival’s only other main art installation was a stagnant sign that changed colors every minute and read “BESAME MUCHO,” which means “kiss me a lot” in Spanish. These uninteresting art pieces failed to live up to those of previous years, such as the enormous moving caterpillar that turned into a butterfly last year.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival of 2016 excelled in every apsect except for its disappointing art installations. This year’s diverse lineup coupled with enticing food options and enjoyable and engaging activities made for an unforgettable weekend.
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