Coachella 2022

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is back! After releasing their highly awaited lineup, tickets sold out immediately, here’s what to expect to see at the event.

Cora Perkins, Reporter|January 24, 2022

Photo by Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash

With the return of one of the biggest music and art festivals in the world, fans from all around the world are ecstatic to return to Coachella. The crowd shown above is just a minuscule percentage of the amount of fans expected to attend.

After a two year hiatus, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has returned, announcing their come-back with possibly their most anticipated line-up yet.

The festival was on break for two years because of the pandemic, and there is a possibility that the break will continue as Omicron cases rise.  Many concerts and Broadway shows have already been postponed and/or cancelled due to the variant.

With COVID cases consistently increasing in the US, the possibility of the festival being canceled is high. However, Coachella is adhering to COVID guidelines, requiring proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event. (Photo by CDC on Unsplash )

Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and Ye (Kanye West) will headline the 6-day festival at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.  Because of the outstanding lineup, tickets to Coachella sold out within hours, and the event expects around 125,000 attendees each day.   Many other notable artists will perform, such as Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion, and BROCKHAMPTON.  This will be BROCKHAMPTON’s last performance as a band, with their disbandment happening shortly after.

Emma Moyer, a senior at Lafayette, is most excited for Harry Styles to be on the lineup, “He isn’t really known for doing big festivals or anything like this, it’ll be interesting to see him interact with a crowd that’s known to be pretty dead.”

Harry Styles, along with Bille Eilish and Ye, will be headlining the 6-day festival. He will be performing (Cora Perkins)

The music and arts festival began in 1999, and continued for 20 years straight until the cancellation in 2020 because of the amount of COVID cases.  If it had not been cancelled, Coachella 2020 would have been one of the most groundbreaking festivals, with Travis Scott, Rage Against the Machine, and Frank Ocean headlining.  Lana Del Rey, 21 Savage, and BIGBANG were set to perform as well, making it one of the most genre-diverse events of the year.

However, this year is set to make history as well the diversity of its lineup.  88rising, a music company based in NYC, was a big part of this.  Although the specifics of their involvement with Coachella is unknown, they did have some role in the 2022 festival, with “88rising’s HEAD IN THE CLOUDS FOREVER” on the bottom of the lineup poster.  The phrase is in reference to the Head in the Clouds festival held in Pasadena, California a few months ago.  Many Asian-American artists that performed at the festival are also slated to perform at Coachella, including Rich Brian, Joji, Beabadoobee, and Japanese Breakfast.  Epik High will also perform, making history as the first Korean group to perform at the event a second time.

Michelle Zauner, front woman of pop-band Japanese Breakfast, is a Korean-American musician performing at Coachella 2022. She, along with Epik High, Beabadoobee, and others, is one of the many Asian American acts performing at the festival, adding to the diversity of the event. (Cora Perkins )

In addition the Hu, a Mongolian heavy metal band, and Banda MS, a Mexican Banda formed in 2003, are on the lineup as well.

Bre Kilgore, an avid concert-goer from Chesapeake, doesn’t think that the mass extent of artists from different genres performing is a good idea, “When different genre crowds are mixed it can cause issues, when people who are there for different types of music are in the same crowd, it can become dangerous.”  She continues, “However, I really like the diversity of the musicians who are performing, it’s important to have representation from around the world at such a big event. Keep it up.”

One part of the festival that may go under appreciated is the large-scale art installations seen around the grounds of the event.  With big names in the architectural community, such as Kiki Van Eijk and Oana Stanescu, many attendees may come just to see the amazing installations.  One awe-inducing structure is a seven-floor building called ‘Spectra’ made by NEWSUBSTANCE.  Making their Coachella debut in 2018, NEWSUBSTANCE continues to bring back their colorful, alluring pavilion each year.

Giant art installations, like the one shown above, will be placed around the festival for attendees to view when they aren’t enjoying a performance. Although not as exciting as a concert may be, some of the installations draw festival goers far and wide. (Photo by Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash )

Being one of the biggest music festivals of the year, Coachella has one of the most expensive ticket prices as well.  Three-day passes begin at between $449 and $549, and VIP passes at between $929 and $1,119.  This doesn’t include fees or add-ons, such as parking and camping passes, shuttle tickets, and lodging (which goes up to $5,000+ with lodging and VIP passes for 4).

As of January 24, the festival is set to continue in April of this year.  However, with COVID cases continuing to rise, the future of this event is still uncertain.