Coachella conspiracy theories are claiming the festival is fully flopping

The glory days are OVER

8 months ago

Coachella once seemed like a semi-mythical affair. Vanessa Hudgens would rock up in a jaunty hat and tassels, Kendall Jenner in space buns and gladiator sandals, while Kylie sent Tumblr into a tailspin with pastel coloured plaits and a suitcase of bandanas. It was 2016. We looked on from the UK at the desert and the dust and the Calvin Harris headline slot with envy and optimism at one day attending.

Cut to 2024 and the story is not the same. Coachella has so monumentally fallen from grace that the festival’s second weekend hasn’t even sold out of it’s first, cheapest ($499), tier of tickets. “The streets are saying that Coachella is a flop this year,” one user wrote on X/Twitter. “You’d have to pay me to go there,” added another. “People there for the status not the music”.

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It’s true, Coachella’s downfall does appear to – in large – be down to influencers. Well, them and poor logistical planning for both the main event and the brand-sponsored parties elsewhere in the Colorado Desert. It’s almost a guarantee each year footage will emerge on Instagram and TikTok of somebody with hundred of thousands of followers struggling to get out of a festival-related event amongst a swarm of other content creators complaining about lack of water and stolen phones.

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The festival is, all in all, a rip off. General entry is $500 (£399). If you want to add a bus shuttle it’s another $120 (£95), VIP access (which many attendees claim you need to be able to access shaded areas so they experience is enjoyable and not an endurance test) hikes all the way up to $1,069 ($853). Add $64 burritos and $25 cocktails into the mix and you’re taking out a small loan to attend. All for the vibes to be off and the crowd to be “lame”, “bored” and “tired”, according to Twitter? No, thank you.

Credit: Madison McGaw/BFA/Shutterstock

Copping Coachella tickets has gone from aspirational to the opposite of awe-inspiring. Last year was the first since 2012 that weekend two didn’t sell out. And as consumers are once again dragging their feet to buy tickets, it’s interesting a wide range of social media posts have seemingly scrambled to save them.

Doja Cat took to Twitter nine days before headlining the festival to write about her album leaks and argue with fans in now-deleted posts. Tyler, the Creator (also headlining) wrote back to a question asking if he’d be performing “that old-ass set” from his 2021 album Call Me If You Get Lost. “I sure am,” he replied (in an also now-deleted Tweet). “Most artist with seven albums worth of music usually perform songs that they already put out lol.” All we need now is for Lana del Ray to log on and start waxing lyrical about something and that’ll be a triple whammy of headliner headline attention.

But whether the media storm ahead of the festival is a coincidence or not, tickets for weekend two are still glaringly available. 2016 Kendall and Kylie Jenner never would have believed it. Taylor Swift – who’s rumoured to be jetting in regardless of the event’s deeply unchic atmosphere – still might not.