8 Tips for Attending Coachella for the First Time

Are you attending Coachella for the first time? Last year I attended the Coachella Music Festival for the first time. It was an incredible experience – both overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.

I had no idea what to expect and had only attended one music festival (Outside Lands 2015) prior to Coachella. I was blown away by the number of people, the musical artist, and of course Beyonce and Destiny’s Child.

I’m not attending the music festival this year, but I am sharing 8 tips for any Coachella first-timers. I wish I had known about these things walking into the music festival.

If you’re looking for Coachella Survival Guides for First Timers or music festival tips and tricks, this blog post is for you. I genuinely hope this tips help you have a smooth (and FUN) Coachella music festival experience.

Here are 8 Tips for Attending Coachella for the First Time:

Coachella Tip #1: Stay Hydrated – Two water bottles in your bag at all time

If you’re attending Coachella for the first time, make sure you STAY HYDRATED. Temperatures can get up to the 90s in the desert. If you’re choosing to drink or partake in other activities that dehydrate you, you have to stay hydrated. You’re walking miles back and forth to the different stages and making your way through crowds of people. It can be so easy to get dehydrated without even realizing it.

My personal Coachella tip (from experience) is to make sure you have at least 2 water bottles in your backpack or bag at all times.

If you finish one water bottle, go out to the water bottle stands and buy another one. If you choose to make your way into the heart of the crowds at Coachella’s Main Stage, especially during a big headliner like Ariana Grande, you’ll want water with you. There are NO WATER BOTTLE VENDORS near the stage.

During all 3 days, we were in the crowds. During Cardi B’s performance on the main stage last year, there were pockets of people around us asking people for water. People were literally feeling faint from the heat and dehydration – and they didn’t bring water with them. DON’T FAINT. DRINK WATER.

Coachella Tip #2: Bring a hat and sunglasses

We spent a day in Santa Monica before we left for Palm Springs. I ended up buying a big sun hat at H&M last minute and it SAVED me during the music festival. We arrived at the festival around 4pm each day so we only had to deal with a few hours under the sun. And a hat and sunglasses were absolutely crucial in staying cool.

If a sun hat doesn’t work for your music festival outfit, I’d recommend: a baseball cap or even a bandana. Also don’t forget sunscreen!

Coachella Tip #3: Wear comfortable shoes

One thing I learned from friends who attended the music festival before me, was to wear comfortable shoes. I had no idea that the stages were all spread out and the amount of walking you do going to see various artists.

If you’re attending Coachella for the first time, I’d recommend sneakers, dad sneakers (currently trending), or even boots.

If you really want to wear sandals, I’d recommend some form of espadrilles.

Coachella Tip #4: Partner Up

Every single day of the music festival, we’d see people lose their friends and frantically search for them. Most friend groups do a good job staying together, but if your friend group wants to split up to see other artist perform – make sure you partner up. There’s literally 100,000+ people attending the Coachella Music Festival. If your phone dies or you have bad service, trying to find your lost friend is literally trying to find a needle in the hay stack.

If your group does decide to split up and break into partners, I’d recommend establishing a meet up point at an art installation or specific stage.

Coachella Tip #5: Make a Costco Run Before You Start the Festival

My friend Melody suggested we make a Costco run to buy food, alcohol, and drinks before we started the weekend. I’m SO GLAD WE DID. We grabbed breakfast sandwiches, eggs, and bacon. We also grabbed chips and snacks.

Before you head into the music festival, make sure you get something to eat! We typically left for the festival around 3pm-4pm. We made sure we had a late lunch before we ate. Coming into the music festival with some food in your stomach was one of the best things we did. We weren’t starving coming in or making a beeline for the food/concession stands right away.

Coachella Tip #6: Bring a light jacket

If you’re attending Coachella for the first time, I’d recommend bringing a light denim jacket or cardigan. It can cool down at night and it’s nice to have something to throw over.

I ended up wearing a mint denim jacket around my waist one of the days. After the sunset and we braced ourselves for Beyonce, I was happy to have the jacket to sit on in the grass. And after Beychella and Destiny’s Child, I wore my jacket walking out of the music festival.

Coachella Tip #7: Make time to see the art installations

I had no idea that the art installations would be a key feature at the Coachella Music Festival. Some art installations actually had long lines while others you could walk in and out of. I’d recommend picking a time slot in between shows to walk through the art installations.

We ended up taking some time the second day to explore the art installations and take some photos! There’s usually hundreds if not thousands of people around the art and the stages – so it can be challenging to take photos!

Coachella Tip #8: Bring an external battery pack for your phone

You’ll probably taking photos and videos of the performances, the outfits, and the celebrities (if you can spot them in the general crowd). I highly recommend bringing an external battery pack for your phone. If you plan on being in the festival from 4pm-11:30pm (or whenever the last headliner at main stage wraps up), your phone battery will die.

If you and your friends get split up – especially towards the end of the night, you’ll want a phone that still is alive. If you decide to bring a mini backpack or even a fanny pack into the music festival, you’ll have space to bring an external battery pack for your phone!

There you have it friends – 8 tips for anyone Attending Coachella for the First Time!

Have you been to Coachella before?

For more Coachella Music Festival tips, you can also check out:

7 Things You Don’t See on Instagram About Coachella

Thank you for reading!
Love,

Emma