Coachella turns 20 this twelvemonth. Here's how the festival has inverse since the beginning.

coachella 2002

Fans in front of the main phase cheer musical group The Strokes every bit they perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival April 28, 2002.
Sebastian Artz/Getty Images
  • Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has been held in Indio, California, for 20 years.
  • The festival is now internationally known for its trendsetting in music, art, and mode.
  • Major musical acts, brands, and celebrities flock to the desert for this two-weekend effect, making it one of the most widely covered events on social media.
  • Visit INSIDER.com for more than stories.

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

The showtime-e'er Coachella was held in Oct 1999 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California. Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen of music promoter Goldenvoice founded the festival, hoping to attract the likes of seventy,000 fans with a wide-ranging lineup of artists. The first Coachella lineup spanned multiple genres with standout performers like Beck, Rage Against The Machine, and Tool.

Though Coachella popularized the thought of music festivals by distinguishing itself from the disastrous Woodstock '99 festival that happened just months prior, the showtime Coachella was near the last. The 1999 Coachella was ultimately not profitable, with the festival only selling around 25,000 tickets in total. The festival was canceled in 2000 , only returned over again in 2001 and has been charting its upward course ever since.

Hither are seven major ways Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival has changed over its twenty-yr run.

Information technology now runs across two sequent weekends, just information technology used to simply be one mean solar day.

The festival phase in 2002.
Sebastian Artz / Stringer/Getty Images

When the festival returned after its brief hiatus in 2001, information technology featured a i-day lineup . Held on Saturday, April 28, 2001 , audiences came to see headliners similar Janes Habit, Weezer, The Roots, Paul Oakenfold, and Fatboy Slim. This 2004 show also popularized the notion of band reunions, with Jane'south Addiction appearing together amongst a breakup .

In 2012, the festival expanded to two weekends for the kickoff fourth dimension. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg conjured a holographic version of the late Tupac Shakur, who NPR referred to as , " probably the single nearly talked nearly musician who performed at this year'south version of the festival." Fans were blown away past the realistic hologram and launched Coachella into mainstream discussion.

The added weekend earned Coachella a reported $47.3 million in gross revenue that year, with gross revenues reaching a historic loftier in 2017 at $114 1000000.

Coachella was once a more than affordable selection for music-lovers.

Now it costs a pretty penny.
Sebastian Artz / Stringer/Getty Images

A review of Coachella 1999 published in Rolling Stone revealed that the festival was an affordable selection for concertgoers. The entrance fee was $50, which included parking and a gratis canteen of h2o.

Those looking to attend the 3-day festival this year tin can expect to pay $429 for a General Admission pass . This admits one person to all three days of the festival, and grants access to on-site parking. If you want an upgraded experience, a VIP package costs $999 and allows access to exclusive areas of the festival grounds.

Coachella 2019 reportedly sold out in under an hour, but that wasn't e'er the case.

Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age performs at the Outdoor theatre phase at the Coachella Festival 2002.
Haagen/Thorpe/WireImage/Getty Images

Following a slow showtime with low attendance numbers , Coachella sold out for the start time in 2004. The 2004 festival was held beyond two days in May and featured acts such as Radiohead, Pixies, The Cure, and the Flaming Lips. This iteration of the festival saw its highest numbers in its (and then) five-year history, drawing a crowd of 120,000 .

The first weekend of this year's festival, featuring Childish Gambino, Ariana Grande, and Tame Impala as headliners, reportedly sold out in forty minutes . Both weekends of the festival were completely sold out within six hours of tickets going on sale.

Technology changed how audiences experience the festival.

The Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne rides an inflated plastic chimera higher up the fans at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Sunday, May 2, 2004.
Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

In one of the near well-known photos from Coachella'southward twenty-yr history, you see Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips higher up the crowd in a transparent "infinite chimera."  This defining moment was captured on camera , but what's missing from the shot is personal cameras. There are no cell phones in sight, just people enjoying the festival. Camera phones were not released until 2002 , and smartphones didn't get popular until at least 2007 following the release of the iPhone.

Now, attendees, artists, and celebrities alike bring together in on snapping photos and sharing content with followers. The festival, similar many others, has incorporated interactive activations and installations for photo opportunities. This includes special art exhibits, food trucks, a Ferris wheel, and make-sponsored tents. In 2018, the first weekend of the festival is reported to have a full Media Bear upon Value of over $116 million, and over 460,000 posts on social media.

Coachella used to be a place for niche audiences to join together. Now it live streams to millions.

The Donnas pose backstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Apr 26, 2003, in Indio, California.
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Alongside user-generated Coachella content is traditional social media content being created for the official festival channels. They announce the lineup on social media, reply fan questions, and share festival-related announcements with followers.

In the last 8 years, Coachella has also provided a live stream of the kickoff weekend of the festival to viewers on YouTube. Last year's performance by Beyonc é shattered records and largely contributed to the Saturday stream condign the highest-e'er total for a music festival live stream. Her functioning has garnered over 41 million views and is the most-watched live-streamed consequence of all time . The celebrated performance was also released as part of "Homecoming," a film by Beyoncé, available on Netflix on April 17.

2019 is the get-go time Coachella will be streamed alive on both weekends , giving fans two opportunities to tune in.

The festival is now a haven for brands and celebrities.

Fans and Temper at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival May 1, 2004, at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California.
Tim Mosenfelder / Contributor/Getty Images

The first occurrence of the festival was barely publicized — in fact, non even many photos exist of it.

Now, since the festival is covered so extensively, many major brands accept used Coachella as a launchpad for social campaigns. Coachella has become an annual gathering spot not only for the most in-demand artists, but also every bit a marketing opportunity for brands and celebrities. The festival has become saturated with highly exclusive sponsored experiences, including influencer pool parties , braid bars with celebrity stylists , popular-upward concerts , and more than.

The festival'due south position every bit a destination for brands to become their products distributed to a mass audition through influencer marketing has given way for the rising of #Nochella — a trend where brands bring experiences off festival grounds and create "moments" for social media exposure.

For example, manner brand Revolve invites Instagram "it-girls" to the festival and dress them in Revolve clothing. They also put them up in a hotel, create unique photo opps, and then utilize influencers' content to reportedly generate billions of impressions in a unmarried year at the festival. On the subject, Revolve co-founder Michael Mente likened Coachella to Fashion Week proverb, "Coachella, and more broadly festivals, take become the new way calendar week for millennials.  Information technology's authentic, experiential; an environment where everyone is expected to have fun and push the envelope with their fashion choices."

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