Coachella, ella, ella...


My latest trip abroad saw me go to my favorite place in the world, sunny California. Anyone who reads this blog will see that I end up going to Los Angeles quite a lot but this time the trip was a super special one because I got to turn a massive dream of mine into a reality - COACHELLA! I've been wanting to go to Coachella, weekend 1, for YEARS and it finally happened. Guys, literally throw things out into the universe and just wait for it to materialize.

My trip to Coachella was such a dream I actually don't think a blog post will suffice - thinking about it I should have just video blogged the whole trip but hey, it's forever stuck in my mind, even if I don't have complete video evidence. That being said, rather than doing a long breakdown, I'm going to give some quick tips for those of you planning on going next year....

Flights
I flew via British Airways from LHR to LAX. There is an airport in Palm Springs but I have family in Los Angeles so I flew out 5 days before to spend time with them and further explore LA. It's probably best to do this to ensure you get over any jetlag and are ready for the lack of sleep Coachella brings.

Accommodation
Highly recommend you book accommodation well in advance and when I say well in advance, I mean when you buy the tickets, so June. I say this because I didn't do that -I bought my tickets in June 2017 and wasn't able to sort accommodation until Feb/ March 2018 i.e a month before Coachella and it was a mad struggle. This is more so true if you are going to weekend 1 of the festival. That's the weekend that most LA natives go and they all book their accommodation well in advance. Hotels and Air Bnb's in Palm Springs sell out super quick. Also, one thing to note the longer you leave it the more expensive it will be, and weekend 1 is pricey

As I left it late and didn't want to spend over £1000 for a 3-day hotel stay (all that was left) we ended up staying out in Joshua Tree in an Air bnb. Joshua Tree is about a 1-hour drive from Coachella Valley, which isn't too far unless like us you end up going to the Coachella after parties each night - when you are tired and have a 1-hour drive ahead of you at like 4am it's not the best. Otherwise, it was a nice Air bnb and Joshua Tree does make for a good photoshoot backdrop! If any of you are planning a trip to Joshua Tree I highly recommend the air bnb we stayed in. 

Car Hire
Car hire is recommended. It's more cost-effective than using a shuttle from LA to Coachella, which is a good 2.5 hours drive. Most people drive to Palm Springs on Thursday so there is a ton of traffic. We drove on Friday morning so missed the traffic, which was fab! 

It was also handy having a car as we attended pre-parties, which usually took place in Palm Springs, which is about 30 minutes away from the actual festival. We could drive to these and then go to the valley. Note that you should not

When it comes to ticket purchase I recommend you purchase a ticket with a shuttle pass included and opt-in for collection at the box office. This worked out well as it meant once we finished at the pre-parties (which usually take place in Palm Springs) we could park our car at the box office and then get a shuttle to the festival. 

Highlights



I lucked out with the lineup this year, one word, BEYCHELLA. Beyonce went above and beyond on her performance, oh yeah and Destiny's Child reunited, not to mention she brought out Jay Z and Solange. So much meaning behind this performance too! I pretty much spent the 2-hour performance in a Beyonce daze, so good!



Other highlights included French Montana - he brought out Diddy (died inside) and of course Eminem who brought out 50 Cent and Dr. Dre (again I died inside). Literally, the thing I love about Coachella is the amount of artists you get to see in one weekend.


Fashion was obviously another highlight, well dressing up for the festival - so much fun especially because the weather was nice and hot so didn't restrict you when it came to what you could wear.




Coachella definitely comes to life at night time - nothing is better than seeing your favorite artists alongside lit up palm trees and sculptures in the desert! 

Overall I highly recommend you go to the festival at least once in your lifetime!

Did you go to Coachella? Weekend 1 or weekend 2? If so leave your comments below.

XxX

Meera Sharma

No comments:

Post a Comment

Instagram