By Eden Gonzalez ‘28
Every April, an exciting festival occurs at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, for over two weeks. People from all over the world come together to hear live music, eat delicious food, and enjoy the sun while welcoming the spring. This year, on April 10–12 and April 17–19, 2026, the annual festival Coachella occurred and sold out both weeks. The headliners this year included Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Anyman, and Karol G, who was the first Latina to headline Coachella.
Over the years, Coachella has changed from an annual festival to a bucket list experience. With the rise of social media, influencers, and brand marketing, Coachella has become an event catered to influencers. Everything is accommodated as brands invite these celebrities to attend the festival. Influencers pump up this event by sharing everything on their social media platforms, like their outfits, food, where they’re staying, and more. Which, by doing so, creates a false impression of what Coachella is by sharing only its glamorous side on apps like Instagram and TikTok. k.
Through social media, viewers have been able to sneak a peek at what Coachella is like without leaving their homes; however, they only see the side that influencers and brands promote, making Coachella seem like the best festival in the world. The large brands that invite these influencers to attend Coachella provide sleeping accommodations, food, and transportation to the venue. Many influencers stay in Airbnbs that are filled with treats and goodies from the brands, sometimes with a pool, and many other luxuries. All this in exchange for content being posted all weekend long about their time at Coachella, sharing the beautiful place they are staying at, and all the VIP aspects included in the festival. By only sharing this side of Coachella, viewers create a false image of what Coachella is truly like, making it seem as if their experience would be the same as these influencers. Though this is how influencers make their money by showing all the positive aspects Coachella has to offer, it portrays a false sense of reality. Sydney Benitez Chamman, a Digital Culture and Society student, wrote an article called “The truth about Coachella: Between reality and fiction,” which argues how influencers manipulate their content to share one side of Coachella. “Keeping the myth alive seems like the most rewarding and logical choice in our attention economy,” Chamman stated. “As a result, influencers portrait the event as a purely fun and magical experience, leaving negative remarks out of their photos, videos and captions, in order to stay relevant online. We are constantly navigating the nexus between truth and fiction.” This highlights how influencers add this magical touch to every event they go to, by capturing things in rose colored glasses rather than reality.
Compared to the everyday person, the experience at Coachella is drastically different. Before entering, you need to purchase tickets, which are about $550 for general admission. Additionally, the area where the festival is held is very large, making the walk from place to place very long and tiring. The lines for the food, water, and bathrooms are extremely long as there are many people in attendance, and the prices for food and drinks are high. Though influencers have brand-decorated Airbnbs, the sleeping and living arrangements for others include paying for a camping site, which requires you to bring all your own materials, or car camping, which ranges from $100 to $300 for a spot. Other Airbnbs around the area are expensive for just the weekend. Adding on, the conditions during this festival are uncomfortable, hot, and dusty, and being in these conditions for long periods of time has an impact on your body, with all the walking and time in the sun. Many people experience foot aches, back pain, and a Coachella cough from all the dust. To help bridge both experiences, influencers should leverage their platforms to highlight a more realistic idea of what to expect, rather than showing the fantasy that everyone believes.
As Coachella continues to gain popularity, I hope that people can distinguish the truth from the fiction that is shared from influencers’ content about Coachella, allowing themselves not to be blinded by the picture that influencers are paid to paint.
