Every April, hordes of L.A. private school kids adorned in denim cutoffs and designer sunglasses flock to Indio for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. It's more than a weekend trip; it's a mass migration. They come from schools all over Los Angeles: Brentwood, Harvard-Westlake, Crossroads, New Roads, Campbell Hall, and so on. As a result, schools are faced with the issue of what to do about attendance on the Friday of Coachella. Harvard-Westlake chose to deal with the issue by allowing students to take an excused day off, as long as they sign a form giving the consent of their parents and teachers.
However, fewer of these kids will be flooding the rooms of La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs this year since many are left without tickets. The festival sold out in less than a week. Still, that hasn't stopped some from dropping $500 and up on a scalper ticket, while others get them through parents in the industry.
A lot of people are blaming the fast ticket sell-out on the bill of mainstream headliners like Kanye West and Kings of Leon. Even though Coachella always books big headliners, this year's lineup seems to have a larger mainstream fan base than previous years. However, Kanye and Kings of Leon aren't the only ones causing excitement. There's been a lot of buzz about hip hop collective OFWGKTA, who have gained a huge following in the past few months and appeared on Jimmy Fallon. Other acts people are excited for are Animal Collective, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, and Nas & Damian Marley to name a few. And then there are the ever-popular Sahara and Gobi Tents, featuring DJ's like Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Duck Sauce and many other electronic acts.
With the festival less than a week away, people are already planning their carpools and picking out their outfits for this see-and-be-seen three-day party in the desert.
This story was written by Ingrid Chang for The Daily Truffle. The Daily Truffle covers the L.A. prep school scene, Hollywood nightlife and more.