Coachella 2027: Dates, Lineup, Tickets and Travel Guide

Coachella is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held every April since 1999 on the polo fields of Indio, California, and now the largest festival in the United States by attendance and by cultural weight. It runs over two identical weekends, each Friday to Sunday, with the same lineup on both; around 125,000 people a day fill the grounds for pop, hip-hop, rock and electronic headliners, a mid-card of rising acts from every continent, and an art programme that commissions sculptures and buildings you walk through and climb.

What makes it worth the ticket:

• The lineup: three headliners a night across the weekend, a special "returning to the desert" dance headliner, and a bill of 150 or so acts, with surprise guests at the big sets

• The stages: the Coachella Stage for headliners, the Outdoor Theatre, the Sahara, Mojave, Gobi and Sonora tents, the Yuma dance tent, and the Quasar and Do Lab for DJs

• The art: large-scale installations and the Spectra tower, lit at night, which are the photographs people remember

• The grounds: grass, palms, the Ferris wheel, mountains all round, and sunsets that stop the crowd

• The food: a curated line-up of Los Angeles restaurants, food trucks, vegan rows and a sit-down "Outstanding in the Field" dinner

• Camping culture: car camping beside the grounds for the full experience, or hotel pools in Palm Springs for the glamorous version

What surprises first-timers: the walking distances, the heat at 16:00 and the cold at midnight, the queue for everything, the celebrity-and-influencer side of the first weekend, and how much better the second weekend is for actually hearing music.

Tip: If you are choosing a weekend, the second is cheaper, marginally less crowded and gets the sets the artists have already rehearsed once; the first has the surprise guests and the press.

Stagecoach, the country festival from the same organiser, follows a week later on the same grounds, and some visitors do both.

Coachella 2027 is confirmed for two weekends: Friday 9 to Sunday 11 April 2027 (weekend one) and Friday 16 to Sunday 18 April 2027 (weekend two), at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. The organiser, Goldenvoice, announced the dates on 20 April 2026, the morning after the 2026 edition closed, together with the advance-sale pass prices, and the advance sale opened on 1 May 2026.

Coachella's dates do not follow a calendar rule, but the pattern is steady: the second and third weekends of April, Friday to Sunday, with the same lineup both weekends. The 2026 edition ran on 10 to 12 and 17 to 19 April. Each weekend is a separate pass; you choose one.

The 2027 lineup had not been announced at the time of writing. The timing has moved in recent years: while past editions experimented with late autumn teasers, the official lineup poster is expected to drop in January 2027, followed immediately by the general pass sale. Industry reporting in September 2026 named Tame Impala and Dua Lipa as the likely headliners, Fred again.. for the special dance slot, and BTS, SZA, Oasis and Radiohead as acts under discussion for the third headline slot; treat all of that as rumour until the poster drops.

Key dates around the weekends:

• Thursday 8 and 15 April: campgrounds open; the night before each weekend is the campsite's own party

• Friday to Sunday: gates open daily at 12:00 PM (noon), with music running until the strict curfew of 1:00 AM on Friday and Saturday, and an earlier close at 12:00 AM (midnight) on Sunday.

• Monday 12 and 19 April: camp exodus and the Palm Springs hotel pools

• The following weekend: Stagecoach on the same grounds

Tip: Lock the weekend first, then wait for the poster. The pass is weekend-specific and the lineup is identical, so the choice is about price, crowd and your flights, not about who plays.

Coachella is fully ticketed, per weekend, and priced in tiers that rise as each sells out. The 2027 advance sale on 1 May 2026 set the opening prices, fees included:

• General Admission: 599 USD for weekend one and 549 USD for weekend two at tier one, rising to 649 and 599 USD, then topping out at 699 and 649 USD

• GA plus 3-Day Shuttle bundle: 729 USD for weekend one and 679 USD for weekend two at tier one, a 20 USD saving over buying separately

• GA 4-Pack: four GA passes together at 10 USD off per pass

• VIP: 1,299 USD for weekend one and 1,249 USD for weekend two at tier one, rising to 1,399 and 1,349 USD; VIP adds dedicated entry lanes, preferred parking, enclosed VIP areas beside the main stages, air-conditioned restrooms, shaded seating and its own food and drink

• Payment plan: 49 USD down with the balance in equal monthly payments through January 2027

Add-ons, 2027 advance-sale prices:

• Car camping: 40 USD per night, 160 USD for the weekend; preferred front-row car camping 130 USD per night, 520 USD total; group car camping new for 2027

• Ready-Set tent camping (tent pitched for you): 172.50 USD per night, 690 USD total

• La Campana camping (furnished tents): from 650 USD per night, 2,600 USD total

• Shuttle pass: about 150 USD for the weekend, running between hotel zones and the grounds; a one-way LAX shuttle and LAX-plus-shuttle bundles are also sold

• Parking passes, and hotel packages bundling a pass, shuttle and a curated hotel, through the official site

How it works: passes are sold through the official site and its ticketing partner, with registration before sales and tiered release; the advance sale sold out quickly, and a further sale follows the lineup announcement, usually with remaining passes released during the general sale in January 2027 strictly starting at the highest remaining pricing tiers, as the initial allotments are currently held on a waitlist-only basis. Passes arrive as wristbands that must be registered in the app and are validated once, so unregistered or resold wristbands are a real risk.

Note: Resale is expensive and risky. In 2026, GA wristbands on the official resale platform were around 815 USD a month before the festival and rose above 2,000 USD in the final fortnight, with VIP far higher. Buy in the official sales and use the payment plan rather than waiting.

Note: Resale is expensive and risky. In 2026, GA wristbands on the official resale platform were around 815 USD a month before the festival and rose above 2,000 USD in the final fortnight, with VIP far higher. Buy in the official sales and use the payment plan rather than waiting.

Nothing at Coachella is free, including water in the campgrounds beyond the refill stations; budget for food and drink on top.

Coachella happens at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, at the eastern end of the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, California, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles and 20 to 30 miles south-east of downtown Palm Springs; the polo grounds are at about 33.68 N, 116.24 W. The festival owns the valley for two weeks, and getting in and out is the trip's main logistics problem.

Airports:

• Palm Springs International Airport (PSP): the closest, about 30 to 45 minutes from the grounds by car, with flights from across the US; fares and car hire spike for the festival

• Ontario International Airport (ONT): about 1.5 to 2 hours west, easier than LAX and often cheaper

• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): about 130 miles and 2.5 hours in theory, 4 or more on festival Fridays; the official one-way LAX shuttle is sold with passes

• San Diego and Phoenix are longer alternatives; Phoenix is about 265 miles across the desert

Getting to the grounds:

• Official shuttles: the shuttle pass covers the weekend between designated hotel zones in Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Palm Springs and the festival, running until the grounds empty; the most reliable way home

• Driving: parking passes are sold in advance; the car camping lots are beside the grounds; day parking lots are a long walk; exits after the headliner take an hour or more

• Rideshare: a dedicated pick-up and drop-off lot; expect surge pricing and queues after midnight, and a long walk to the lot

• Bicycles: valet bike parking exists, and cycling from Indio or La Quinta rentals is the local trick for anyone staying within a few miles

Inside the grounds: walking only, with distances between the far tents that add up to 8 to 12 miles a day; the map in the app marks water refill stations, medical tents and the shuttle and rideshare lots.

Tip: Stay on a shuttle route and buy the shuttle pass with your GA at the bundle price. A hotel with a shuttle stop outside is worth more than a hotel a mile closer without one.

Getting back late: music ends at the strict curfew of 1:00 AM on Friday and Saturday, and earlier at 12:00 AM (midnight) on Sunday [11]; the shuttles run until the crowd clears, rideshare surges until about 2:00, and car camping does not move at all until the lots open in the morning.

Arrive in the valley by the Thursday of your weekend, 8 or 15 April 2027, and leave on the Monday; the Thursday night is the campsite's own party and the Monday is the only day the roads out are empty. For hotel guests, flying into Palm Springs on Thursday and out on Monday avoids the Friday traffic and the Sunday night queues.

Crowd levels on a scale of 1 to 5:

• Thursday: level 3 in the campgrounds and on the roads into the valley

• Friday: level 4 from the afternoon; the gates and the shuttle stops are slowest around 15:00 to 17:00

• Saturday: level 5; the fullest day, the longest bar queues, the densest headliner crowd

• Sunday: level 4, thinning after the last set as hotel guests leave for early flights

• Weekend one versus two: the first is busier, with press, brands and celebrities; the second is calmer and cheaper

The weather is the desert in spring, which means two climates a day. April afternoons in Indio run into the 30s°C, with typical historical data confirming daytime highs ranging from 29°C to 33°C (84°F to 91°F) that can easily spike past 38°C (100°F) under severe heatwaves, contrasted against sharp nighttime drops down to 12°C to 16°C (54°F to 61°F) or lower. "April Weather in Indio California"] The swing between the Sahara tent at 16:00 and the campsite at 2:00 is what makes people ill. Rain is rare. Wind is the real hazard: the Coachella Valley's gusts throw dust across the grounds, close stages and tents, and have shut the festival for hours in past years, with alerts sent by text and app.

How to handle it:

• Sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and a bandana or mask for the dust, and a light layer for midnight

• Water: refill stations are free and the app marks them; a reusable bottle is allowed, and dehydration is the medical tent's main business

• Shade in the afternoon: the tents, the art, the VIP areas or your campsite; the Coachella Stage field has none

• Check the app and texts before leaving the hotel each afternoon for wind and stage changes

Note: Sunset is around 19:10 in mid-April, so the grounds are hot until about 18:00 and cold by 22:00; the hours between are the festival's best.

Stay on the grounds if you want the full festival, or at a hotel or rental on a shuttle route in Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Indian Wells or Palm Springs if you want a pool and a shower; the whole valley sells out for both weekends, and prices run at their yearly high.

On site:

• Car camping: 160 USD for the weekend, beside the grounds, with showers, shops, a general store and the campsite's own activities; the cheapest option and the most social, with no distance to walk home

• Preferred front-row car camping: closer to the entrance at 520 USD

• Tent camping options: Ready-Set tents pitched for you at 690 USD for the weekend, and La Campana furnished tents from 2,600 USD

• Lake Eldorado and other premium camping and lodging packages sold through the official site with passes

Off site:

• Indio and La Quinta: closest, with rentals and a few hotels; most on shuttle routes; 10 to 20 minutes from the gates

• Palm Desert and Indian Wells: resort hotels and golf-course rentals, shuttle zones, 20 to 30 minutes

• Palm Springs: the most hotels, the most pools and the best nightlife, 30 to 45 minutes and on the shuttle network; the classic choice

• Joshua Tree and the high desert: rentals an hour or more away, for a quieter base and a national park day trip

• Official hotel packages bundling a pass, shuttle and hotel, sold at the advance sale

When to book: the valley's rentals and hotels for the festival weekends begin filling the day the dates are announced, which for 2027 was April 2026; by the lineup announcement in the autumn the good options are gone, and by January only premium rooms and distant rentals remain. Book by autumn 2026. Reference rates for festival nights: a Palm Springs mid-range hotel about 300 to 650 USD, a La Quinta rental house (split between a group) about 700 to 1,500 USD, resort hotels from 800 to over 1,500 USD, with three-night minimums common and city taxes added.

Tip: Split a rental house in La Quinta or Indio between four to eight people with a shuttle stop nearby; per head it beats a Palm Springs hotel and it comes with a kitchen and a pool.

Coachella's food is a Los Angeles restaurant crawl dropped in the desert: a curated line-up of LA names, food trucks, a vegan and vegetarian row, dessert stalls and bars, plus the Outstanding in the Field sit-down dinner on the grounds, booked ahead. Everything is cashless; expect festival prices.

What to eat and drink:

• Tacos, birria, Korean fried chicken, pizza slices and smash burgers from the LA vendors; the queues are shortest during the big sets

• The vegan row and the salad and bowl stalls for anything green after two days of fried food

• Date shakes, the Coachella Valley's own treat, from the valley's date farms and on site

• Beer gardens and cocktail bars in 21-plus zones; bring ID, and expect to be wristbanded for alcohol

• Free water at the refill stations; sealed bottles and empty reusables are allowed in

Rules: a clear bag policy and size limits apply, no outside food or drink beyond sealed water, no glass, and a long list of banned items on the official site. Campers can bring and cook their own food in the campgrounds.

Packing for a desert weekend:

• Sunscreen, lip balm, sunglasses and a hat; a bandana or mask for dust

• A reusable water bottle and electrolyte sachets

• Light clothes for the day and a warm layer for midnight; comfortable shoes you can walk 10 miles in

• A clear bag within the size limit, two power banks and a cable

• Earplugs, a small first aid kit, hand sanitiser and wet wipes

• For camping: a tent rated for wind, a shade structure, a camp chair, a cooler with ice, a lantern and ear plugs for the neighbours

• ID, the wristband already registered, and your United States eSIM already installed

Tip: Eat a real lunch before the shuttle and keep the on-site food for one meal a day; the queues at 19:00 are the worst of the weekend and the bars are quicker than the kitchens.

Coachella is expensive before you arrive and cashless once you are in. The pass is 549 to 699 USD, camping or lodging adds hundreds, and food and drink on site run about 50 to 100 USD a day for most people; a full weekend with flights, lodging, the shuttle pass and food comes to about 1,500 to 3,500 USD per person. Cards and mobile payment work at every vendor; there are ATMs on site but no reason to use them. Tipping at bars and food stalls is customary in the US, usually added on the card reader.

Etiquette that keeps the weekend good:

• Do not push forward at the headliner; the crowd at the Coachella Stage is dense and the people at the front have been there since the afternoon

• Flags and totems are allowed within rules and are how groups find each other; keep them out of other people's sightlines during sets

• Phones up for a song, not a set; the people behind you came to see the stage

• Leave camp neighbours alone after 3:00, and pick up your campsite before you leave

• Respect the clear-bag and banned-item rules; security is thorough and the queue is long enough already

Safety and health: heat, dehydration and alcohol are the medical tent's main cases; wind and dust are the environmental risk; and theft from unattended camps and bags is the main crime. Drink water constantly, use the free refill stations, take shade in the afternoon, and keep valuables on you or locked in the car. Medical tents are marked in the app and staffed around the clock; emergency number in the US is 911. Coachella runs a safety programme with staff and a text line for help inside the grounds; the details are in the app each year.

Going with young children: Coachella admits children, children ages 5 and under enter free with a ticket-holding adult, but the heat, the late sets and the crowds make it a hard weekend for small ones. Families do better in the day, at the art and the Outdoor Theatre, and back at the pool by sunset.

Note: Substances are everywhere and the heat makes everything stronger; the medical tents treat people without judgement, and asking for help early is the whole trick.

There is no public Wi-Fi on the polo fields, and your hotel's network stays in Palm Springs. The mobile networks bring extra capacity to Indio for the festival and 5G on the grounds is strong until the headliner starts, when 125,000 people upload the same moment and everything slows. The practical problems are coverage at the campground edges, battery life in the heat and the fact that every part of the weekend lives in an app that needs a connection.

What you use data for at Coachella:

• Registering the wristband and opening the app at the gate
• Set times, stage changes, surprise sets and the map with water and medical stations
• Wind and dust alerts by push notification and text
• The shuttle app and the rideshare app for the way home, and a live map to the pick-up lot
• A group chat with live location for regrouping between stages
• Cashless payment at every vendor, and your bank's verification codes
• The YouTube live stream for the stage you are not at, and the clips you send home

Set-up: check that your phone is unlocked and eSIM-capable (most phones from the last five years are), buy the plan, scan the QR code while you still have a reliable connection at home, and switch the line on when you land in Los Angeles or Palm Springs. US networks are excellent in Palm Springs and on the valley highways; coverage in the high desert towards Joshua Tree is patchy.

How much data: 1 to 2 GB a day covers the app, messaging, maps, rides and payments; video and the live stream are the variable, and a weekend of filming sets and uploading can double it. For a week in Southern California around the festival, 10 GB is comfortable, and 20 GB suits heavy social media use or a longer US road trip. GoHub's United States plans are listed on the eSIM for the United States page.

Tip: Carry two power banks and keep the phone out of the sun; heat and the search for signal at the headliner drain a battery by 21:00. Screenshot your wristband registration, your shuttle route and your lodging address before you leave the hotel each day.

Keep your home SIM active for SMS so bank verification codes arrive, set the eSIM as your data line, and turn off data roaming on the home SIM.

Coachella sits in one of the best corners of the American West for a short road trip, and the days around the festival are the time to use it.

Within the Coachella Valley:

• Palm Springs: mid-century architecture, the aerial tramway up Mount San Jacinto for cool air and a view, pools and the Thursday night street market
• The date farms along Highway 111 and the date shakes of Indio, the valley's own crop
• The Coachella Valley Preserve and its palm oases for a short desert walk in the morning

Within two hours:

• Joshua Tree National Park: about an hour north, with the Joshua trees, boulders, sunsets and stars; go on the Monday after the festival when the park is quiet
• The Salton Sea and Salvation Mountain to the south, for the strange side of the desert
• Big Bear and the mountains, or San Diego's coast, for a cooler finish

Further:

• Los Angeles, 2.5 hours west, as the start or end of the trip, with the LAX shuttle bundles sold with passes
• Las Vegas, about 4 hours north-east, for anyone making a desert loop
• Stagecoach, the country festival on the same grounds the following weekend, for those who want a second festival with a different crowd

Tip: Fly in a day early, do Palm Springs and the tramway on the Thursday, then Joshua Tree on the Monday after; the festival weekend itself leaves no energy for anything else.

If you are combining both Coachella weekends, the week between is the valley at its most relaxed: the pools are full, the roads are open and the second-weekend crowd has not arrived.