How To Do Just About Everything
At some music festivals, nearly everybody camps out right there next to the festival (Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, etc). At others, there is no camping out at all (Street Scene, Vegoose, etc). Coachella is somewhere in between... you can camp right there if you want, but most people don't since there are plenty of other lodging options nearby. Out of about 100,000 that attend Coachella, only around 10,000 camp there. I guess the the typical Coachella attendee doesn't really like to "rough it" in a tent... But camping at Coachella is hardly "roughing it." Festival organizers pamper campers by giving them a beautiful, flat field of lush, green grass to set up their tents, and providing perks such as showers/bathrooms, wi-fi internet access, a general store, food court, movies, raffle prizes, and "The Clubhouse" where you campers can get food and drink (even alcohol if you can prove you're 21+) and they have a DJ spinning until midnight. But there are also some downsides. Unlike festivals like Bonnaroo where camping privileges are included with the price of a ticket, at Coachella you'll pay an extra $45 per person (plus service charges) to camp on site for up to 4 nights. And they don't allow you to bring in alcohol, either... you have to buy it at the Clubhouse or across the field at the Cantina.
BUY A CAMPING TICKET. This is a separate ticket from the festival ticket, and costs $45 (plus service charges). You can get camping tickets at the same places you get the festival tickets: Ticketmaster (online or outlets) and at The Glasshouse in Pomona. There are limited camping tickets available, and they tend to sell out way in advance. You can buy the camping tickets in combination with your festival ticket, but there's no "combo" discount or anything...
GET THERE EARLY. Last year, they encouraged people to get there early by offering incentives such as raffle tickets for campers who got there early. It's not clear yet whether they'll offer similar incentives in 2007. The campsite opens at 5:00 PM on Thursday. Incentives aside, early birds get the best camping spots and avoid the traffic crunch... that should be incentive enough! Also, campers have their own parking lot, and it's closer than most of the other lots.
BE PREPARED. The campsite sometimes gets hit by strong winds, so make sure you know how to set up your tent before you get there! If you've never set up your tent before, practice setting it up a couple times in the yard before you leave. Use all the tent's stake-downs and guylines to secure your tent and your stuff, or you might just blow away! If you need help picking out camping gear, check out http://www.rei.com/expertadvice
HAVE FUN! Don't expect the campsite to be a quiet, comfortable haven. Go book a room at the nearby Waldorf-Astoria if you want luxury. Other campers will be partying late into the night... so if you can't handle some background noise while you sleep, don't buy a camping ticket! People in the campsite tend to be very open and friendly, so introduce yourself and you'll have new friends in no time
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