The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, often referred to simply as Coachella, is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary since 2001 of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip-hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.
The origins of the festival trace back to a 1993 concert that Pearl Jam performed at the Empire Polo Club while boycotting venues controlled by Ticketmaster. The show validated the site's viability for hosting large events, leading to the inaugural Coachella Festival being held over the course of two days in October 1999, three months after Woodstock '99. After no event was held in 2000, Coachella returned on an annual basis beginning in April 2001 as a single-day event. In 2002, the festival reverted to a two-day format. Coachella was expanded to a third day in 2007 and eventually a second weekend in 2012; it is now held on consecutive three-day weekends in April, with the same lineup each weekend. Organizers began permitting spectators to camp on the grounds in 2003, one of several expansions and additions in the festival's history. The festival was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. It is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world. Each Coachella staged from 2013 to 2015 set new records for festival attendance and gross revenues. The 2017 festival was attended by 250,000 people and grossed $114.6 million. Coachella's success led to Goldenvoice establishing additional music festivals at the site, beginning with annual country music festival Stagecoach in 2007.
History
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|2022
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|2023
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|2024
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|2025
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|2026
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Awards and nominations
Billboard Touring Awards
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! Year
! Category
! Work
! Result
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| 2011
| rowspan="2"| Top Festival
| rowspan="2"| Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
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| rowspan="2"|2012
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|rowspan="2"|
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|Top Boxscore
| Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, April 13–22
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| 2013
| rowspan="5"| Top Festival
| rowspan="5"| Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
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| 2014
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| 2015
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| 2016
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| 2017
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International Dance Music Awards
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! Year
! Category
! Work
! Result
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| 2008
| rowspan="9"| Best Music Event
| rowspan="9"| Coachella – Indio, California
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| 2009
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| 2010
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| 2011
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| 2012
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| 2013
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| 2014
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| 2015
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| 2016
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| 2020
| rowspan="1"| Best Festival
| rowspan="1"| Coachella
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Pollstar Awards
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! Year
! Category
! Result
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| 1999
| rowspan="4"| Music Festival of the Year
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| 2002
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| 2003
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| 2004
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| 2005
| Music Festival of the Year (non-touring)
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| 2006
| rowspan="2"|Music Festival of the Year
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| 2007
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| 2008
| rowspan="3"|Music Festival of the Year (non-touring)
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| 2009
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| 2010
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| 2011
| Major Music Festival of the Year (non-touring)
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| 2012
| rowspan="6"|Major Music Festival of the Year
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| 2013
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| 2014
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| 2015
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| 2017
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| 2018
|Music Festival of the Year (over 30K attendance)
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|2019
|Music Festival of the Year (US Only; over 30K attendance)
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|2022
|Music Festival of the Year (Global; over 30K attendance)
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|2024
|Music Festival of the Year (Global: over 30K attendance)
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Explanatory notes
References
External links
- The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival official website
- Coachella Music Festival | The Desert Sun
- Coachella channel on YouTube