Coachella, It’s the modern day Woodstock. It’s held over two three-day weekends during the month of April in Indio, Coachella, California. Coachella not only brings in thousands of people each year, but also many celebrities regulars such as Vanessa Hudgens, Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

Not only is Coachella a music festival but also an art festival. It features about 4 to 5 big art designs a year. The most famous being the art from 2015 which included a caterpillar, butterfly, and an astronaut. This year, the art was kind of “eh” with big political drama over each piece due to the fact that they all were made in different countries, mostly spanish-speaking countries. According to the LA Times, Coachella was taking a stand against the 2016 presidential election candidates talking about building a bigger wall between the United States and Mexico.

Coachella has one main stage, an outdoor stage, four tent stages, an outdoor “Do-Lab”, and a small stage in what they call “The Beer Gardens”. That’s 8 stages in total along with a special tent for “Despacio”, which are 7 newly released Macintosh sound systems that played music without human help.

There were about 200 acts in the lineup this year. Including headliners LCD Soundsystem, Guns ‘N Roses, and Calvin Harris. The acts later in the night brought out special guests for a song or two. Halsey brought out Pan!c At The Disco, Calvin Harris brought out Big Sean and Rihanna, Major Lazer brought out DJ Snake, Zedd brought out Ke$ha, and Jack U brought out Kanye West. Basically, if the main artist ever made a collab with someone, they were going to bring that person out.

Apparently food is a big thing at Coachella. The most popular being the watermelon slice that everyone was saying “made” Coachella, Coachella. Food stands included burritos, korean bbq, pizza, tacos, vegan, gyros, and jamaican. Food stands closer to the main stage were the ones getting all the business because people were closer to the stage and could still hear, and sometimes see, the performer.

Ticket prices for general admission this year cost about $400 per person. Additional charges included camping, hotel, shuttle, and special access to certain places within the venue. VIP tickets cost up to $900 but that granted access to VIP areas and to the absolute front of all the stages. Everyone, including acts, workers, and security were required to wear wristbands. General admission were pink and had a GA on it.

VIP wristbands were yellow said VIP. Performer wristbands were blue and said A. Celebrities all have different wristbands, which of course, there meanings were never given an explanation. Vanessa Hudgens’ was yellow and had an elephant on hers. Kylie Jenner’s was pink and had an A on it.

Fashion is big, Coachella is said to be the kickoff to summer outfits and swimsuit season. Popular fashion this year were the big, floppy hats, gladiator sandals, high waisted shorts, and crop tops. It’s amazing what girls will go through in order to look good. Participants are constantly walking and standing all day from 11am-1am. Most bring an outfit to change into for the night because it can get somewhat chilly and it feels a whole lot better getting out of dusty, dirty clothes and putting new ones on.

The performance schedule overlapped a lot of big artists time-frames. Ice Cube overlapped with Zedd. Guns ‘N Roses overlapped with RL Grime. Ellie Goulding overlapped with G-Eazy. Halsey overlapped with the Chainsmokers. And so on. Basically, the entire day had to be planned out and people had to be okay with missing some acts or seeing only half of their set. Be prepared that if there is a big group of people that went together, there will never be a compromise and an act will always be missed or cut short.

Coachella is not only for 18-26 year olds. People in their 50’s and children under 10 were also seen. Although not much was said, it’s an awkward situation with children being there. They’re inhaling second-smoke for a good 72 hour period, artists and participants are using language and being sexual, and many people are drunk and on drugs. Coachella does try to keep the drinking at bay by having “Beer Gardens” which were only accessible to 21+ and no alcohol was allowed out and the drinks were very watered down. But with secret flasks and having the campgrounds right next to the venue, it wasn’t easy.

Overall, from pictures and videos, Coachella seems amazing and like its the happiest place on earth. What is not seen is the amount of smoking that happens in the concert crowds, the pushing and shoving to get close to the front, and the insane amounts of trash that’s on the ground by the end of the night.

However, a positive outlook is that most everyone is nice and artists are trying to make everyone happy and feel euphoric. Everyone is there to listen to music, meet new people, and just have a good time and forget about the worries of life and the outside world. It’s a whole other world inside Coachella.