Behind The Festival: Surprising Facts About Coachella

The Coachella Music and Arts Festival is an annual festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California in the Inland Empire’s Coachella Valley. Organized by Goldenvoice, and co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, the three-day event includes music performances of all genres accompanied by breathtaking art installations and sculptures. Although it may have started out slow, it has grown into one of the biggest and most profitable music festivals in the world. Take a look at some of the unknown history about the festival’s inception, what makes it so popular, and some fun facts that have come out of this music festival’s almost 20-year-long legacy.

Did you know tickets used to sell for $50 a day?

The Origins Of A Legacy

Photo Credit: Coachella

The roots of one of the world’s biggest music festivals can be traced all the way back to 1993. At the time, rock group Pearl Jam was boycotting the venues in Los Angeles that were currently being controlled by Ticketmaster. The promotion group Goldenvoice managed to book the band at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California for a concert with an audience over 25,000. The success of the concert proved the location and setup of the polo fields to be a viable place to host large events. So, in October 1999, the first Coachella Music and Arts Festival was held for $50 a day with artists such as Beck, Rage Against the Machine, Morrisey and countless more. Unfortunately, Goldenvoice ended up losing $850,000 although it was well-received by its attendants.