Coachella Attendees Dub Festival A "Nightmare" As They Battle 12-Hour Traffic, Endless Shower Lines, And Shell Out $100 On Mid Food
$600 tickets, $160 to camp in your car, long wait times just to shower, $100 for mid tacos, and 12-hour traffic jams—this is the real Coachella.
Glittery boots kicking up dust, rhinestone bras shimmering under the desert sun, and influencers fighting for the best golden hour shot.
That’s the fantasy we're sold on Instagram. Yet, if you peel back the perfectly filtered pics, you’ll find a much grittier reality. The official website for Coachella sells general admission tickets for $650 and $160 for car camping fees. Despite these high prices, people stand in long lines just to shower; women cover their noses from the stench as they wait. As for food, attendees must be prepared to spend $100 for cold tacos and lemonade.
One TikToker showed her meal at the festival. “$102 worth of food guys..." she said. She showed off her tacos, nachos, and drink. "I’m not going to lie, they are not good. They are not good at all. The tortillas were like freezing cold.”
According to NBC News, some attendees said they were stuck in traffic for up to 12 hours with no access to food, water, or bathrooms. Social media lit up with clips of hundreds of vehicles idling under the sun, some arriving as early as 2 a.m. and still not inside hours later. One person warned future attendees to use the bathroom and grab snacks before approaching the line. Another compared the chaos to the infamous Fyre Festival.
KTLA reported, "Campers trying to get into the Coachella campground for this weekend’s music festival are calling this year’s process a nightmare." One user wrote, “8 hours in line for @coachella camping and still nowhere close. This is beyond unacceptable. You charge thousands and can’t manage basic logistics? What a joke."
One camper rated the shower experience a "6/10." For those willing to cough up an extra $10, the "super duper" showers promised shorter waits and more space.
Social media, once filled with flower crowns and Ferris wheels, is now littered with comments like: "These prices are diabolical." "Coachella seems like a miserable money trap that everyone falls for." And: "The fact that GENERAL ADMISSION is $600 and you still have to pay that much for mid food is making me irrationally angry."
Meanwhile, a Reddit user dropped screenshots of VIP drink prices: $23 for a Red Bull vodka, $17 for basic liquor, and $15 beers.
Coachella is not all that bad. You catch moments of ecstasy in the crowd when your favorite artist goes all out on the chorus—but you’ll also be sweaty, sunburned, underfed, and uncomfortable in your tent. The question is, is it worth the price?
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