Coachella, the popular annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in California, draws thousands of art, fashion, and music lovers worldwide. The festival this year will have appearances by top artists such as Lady Gaga, Megan Thee Stallion, Green Day, Travis Scott, and Post Malone, among many others, making it one of the largest events of the year culturally.
Coachella 2025, though, is making headlines for an unwanted reason too—sky-high food and beverage prices within the festival grounds.
Festival-goers blast Coachella’s food prices.
Coachella is a two-weekend event, with the first weekend of performances occurring from April 11 to 13 and the second from April 18 to 20. Following the first weekend, several attendees expressed their discontent on social media regarding the high prices of food and drinks within the venue. Posts and videos documenting the experience have gone viral, with most festival attendees expressing dismay at the price and quality of the food.
Ruth Viveros, a social media influencer who went to Coachella on April 11, posted about her experience, saying she spent more than $100 on lunch that included tacos and lemonade. She was disappointed with the quality and taste of the food, saying, “They’re not good, not good at all. The tortillas are like cold.” In her post’s comments, numerous users were frustrated, with many content creators commenting similarly about their own disappointing food experiences at the event.
The High Cost of Coachella
Coachella’s official website defines its food program as having a wide range of new and interesting restaurants from coast to coast, with everything ranging from vegan to gluten-free. However, even with that, the astronomical prices have taken a toll on many of the attendees.
The cost of general admission tickets for weekend one began at $649 (around Rs 55,000), and weekend two tickets were priced at $599 (around Rs 51,000). Extra charges for parking, VIP entrance, shuttle buses, and such other facilities are additional, meaning the entire experience of the festival is costly to most visitors.
