Coachella 2025 as a normal girl
So yeah, obviously you can read the title up above. I went to Coachella and it kind of rocked my world? This is a blog post about how it went! I am trying my best to spare no logistical details.
What to expect in this blog post:
What led to attending Coachella
The list of performances I saw
Highlights, lowlights, and pleasant surprises
My coachella backpack essentials
Cost breakdown
My final thoughts and would I go to Coachella again?
ALSO, I was there for music, and that was my biggest flaw for making this into a blog post, because I forgot to take photos. I have like 6 photos and 90 videos. I have nooooo outfit photos in front of the iconic ferris wheel, and I actually barely have any photos of myself AT ALL, because I was so busy sweating and dancing all weekend. Just know that if I could do it again, I would wedge some photo shoots into the schedule!
What led me to Coachella 2025?
I attempted to buy tickets to the Brat Tour to see Charli XCX, but tickets were $300 for GA ground level. I saw her in 2019 at First Avenue, and tickets were like $30 MAYBE? I was damn near existential looking at two $300 floor tickets in my cart (800 after fees), so before committing I minimized the ticketmaster pre-sale to google, “how much does one Coachella ticket cost?” It was about $600! I decided, well, I’d rather spend 600 to see Charli XCX’s Brat, AND Lady Gaga, AND Green Day, The Prodigy, Djo, Japanese Breakfast, Lisa?! The Dare?! Kraftwerk… you get it. I knew at that moment I was Coachella bound.
For the record, I’m clearly not a millionaire influencer. I mean, I do have a blog for funsies, but I’m not making money from big brands flying me out or receiving a free coachella ticket in VIP, but I do want to acknowledge my privilege for a sec.
For transparency’s sake, another reason we decided to go is because my grandparents recently bought a home near Coachella, so we had the privilege of visiting them and staying at their home. You’ll notice later in my cost breakdown, Room & Board price will be zero, and that’s because I did not need to budget for camping or hotel since I was staying at their house. I know Coachella is expensive, and the sleeping arrangements are often just as expensive if not more expensive than the ticket price. For that reason, it’s important to emphasize my privilege in that aspect of the trip. Like I said, this is the perspective of a normal girl, so lets move into my thoughts on attending from my couch to in person!
I was always indifferent about Coachella, due the cultural appropriation of cultures in attendee’s outfits, and the festival’s lack of rules against it (I only saw one indigenous war bonnet/head dress, and everyone was scowling and pointing at her, so that was nice lol). I do love live music though, and the desert (as you all know now) calls my name. Every year the livestreams would convince me more and more. Finally, Last year’s Lana Del Rey and Tyler the Creator headliners pushed over the FOMO edge– I needed to be in that crowd. I thought that cliché non-attendee Couchella thought…
“The crowd isn’t having enough fun. If I were there, I’d go crazy!”
So that was sort of the backwards order of how I ended up there. In order: I got Coachella fomo on my couch 2024, my grandparents told me I could come visit them, and then Charli tickets were so expensive in Minneapolis, that I ultimately decided to go all out and just buy the coachella ticket instead! I guess I was correct about going crazy, too… I lost my voice after day one. lol
Artist sets I saw at Coachella (in order)
Day 1
Djo
Sara Landry
Lisa
Missy Elliot
The Prodigy
Lady Gaga
Day 2
Weezer
Jimmy Eat World
Yo Gabba Gabba
Viagra Boys
Japanese Breakfast
T-Pain
Charli XCX
Green Day
The Dare
Sara Landry and Blood Oath
Day 3
Circle Jerks
Ginger Root
Megan Thee Stallion
Zedd
Kraftwerk
Outfits! Left to Right: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
Highlights, lowlights, and pleasant surprises
Highlights
Lady Gaga’s headlining set
The 18 dollar lemonade stand
Charli XCX’s Bratchella
Ginger Root
Green Day’s headlining set
Lowlights
The lines for everything
Tr*vis Sc*tt’s fans standing bored through all the main stage sets on day 2
Delayed shuttles at the end of Day 1 (we got home at 4am)
The ONE cultural appropriation in the year 2025 (so stinky and dumb)
Pleasant surprises
Food was pretty dang good
Weezer, because it’s Weezer
Green Day’s political lyric changes (pro-palestine, anti-tr*mp)
Kraftwerk’s full set finishing the festival for us
Coachella packing tips!
I watched countless tiktoks, read every article, and scoured the coachella app religiously to prepare. Worth noting, at 23 I would have just had pockets, a dead phone, and a prayer. I was overly prepared, which was the perfect amount to be. I AM 33 years old, after all, and like that mom on White Lotus played by Parker Posey, I too, refuse to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced at this point in life.
It was my 2 brothers, Eric, and myself, so we brought 2 backpacks– Eric held one, I held the other. Mine was a small/medium black leather fashion backpack. Eric’s was a standard sized backpack. Apparently pickpocketing is a major fun-ruiner of coachella, so we actually used password locks and carabiners on our bags to lock them shut, ensuring no wallet, shuttle pass, or phone thefts. Our method was successful! (tip: wear your backpack on your side or front at the headliner sets so you can keep your eyes on ‘em, too).
Our Coachella backpack essentials:
Cliff Bars
2 Nalgene waterbottles
Kleenex, Wet Ones Wipes, & Hand Sanitizer
Ibuprofen, bandaids, sunscreen
A foldable fan
Chapstick with SPF (we used Sun Bum)
Liquid IV (day 2 & 3 we drank Liquid IV BEFORE leaving to catch the shuttle)
Wallets containing our shuttle passes and our cards for buying things (it’s a cashless event)
Phone charging bricks & charging cords
Setting powder, lip liner, and lipstick (my bag only)
Also FYI/Disclaimer: Coachella has a list of things you aren’t allowed to bring in if you’re not camping, and we brought in items that aren’t allowed: Full waterbottles of ice water (bottles are supposed to be empty), and a ton of snacks. No one flagged us at security. I don’t know if we just got lucky, or if they just doesn’t care, but it worked in our favor. I suggest just walking in with it and if they catch it, follow the rules.
And if they don’t catch it… well.
My Coachella cost breakdown
This is where my normal girl status comes into check. I am a blogger– yes, but, an influencer, I am not. No one paid me to attend Coachella. I didn’t get VIP. I wasn’t at any of ther major afterparties, and I wasn’t sponsored by a clothing brand to go wearing their clothes.
We had 5 months to save up and prepare for the trip, and we waited to buy the tickets 3 weeks before Week 1 of Coachella. Also, for an understanding of my financial perspective, I didn’t buy my tickets on layaway or afterpay, I don’t have a credit card to finance the trip, and I paid for everything straight debit. This was my approximate budget after attending the festival as a ~NORMAL PERSON:
Flight: $250 round trip
Tickets: $650 including fees
Room/board: $0
Shuttle: $150
Outfits: $50
Snacks: $25
Fest food: $50
Fest drink: $50-60
Merch: $35
GRAND APROX. TOTAL: $1,270
Would I go to coachella again?
Sjflakjdfl OKAY, so was Coachella worth the money? YES. It was so fun, and I figured it was a once in a lifetime experience, so why not? The problem with once in a lifetime experiences or bucket list item? It’s that they’re worth every penny.... To see Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, and Green Day, I would have spent probably atleast 700 (300 for gaga, 300 for GA Charli, and 100 for Green Day at Yacht Club Festival this summer). We aren’t even considering how much it would have cost to see Djo, The Dare, Ginger Root, Japanese Breakfast, Megan Thee Stallion, Zedd etc.
As the weekend went on, we realized how quickly we got comfortable navigating the grounds… where the water stations, stages, and food spots were, I would have become an expert, if I was there for one more day. My grandparents even said things like, “Next year, you’ll know how everything works and how the stages work and what to bring” and I was thinking… next year? I hadn’t considered that there would even be a next year…
FYI, I’m writing this recap during week 2 Coachella, with all the same artists performing. This time, I’m watching from my couch, doing “Couchella” as the Coachella fans call it. I saw a couple sets I missed due to overlapping schedules, and rewatched the biggest sets I saw last weekend. As I’m rewatching Coachella redux, I realized even though I already stood in those televised crowds, I was overwhelmed with a deep sense of FOMO? It struck when I watched Charli XCX surprised fans with her underrated 2020 track, Party 4 U. She didn’t play it during week 1, and I was supremely jealous of the week 2 crowd. I thought, “I wish I was there, I’d be going crazyyy!” Like, Cody, you were there, like a week ago…
They just announced their new Coachella 2026 dates for April 10-12th and 17-19th of 2026… Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be Coachella bound again.
Thanks for reading! I hope I could give some insight into the elusive world of music festivals. I’m not really a festival girlie, but the vibe of Coachella was excellent. In a day and age where everything feels so doom and gloom, it felt good to escape to a beautiful place with some great music and overall nice crowd!
-C
