Coachella's a golden opportunity for artists, but some festival fans wonder: Who's it all for? | CBC News

CBC - 17/04
For fans at the California music festival this year, long lines to get in and a lack of bathrooms were just the first hurdle. The food is even pricier than usual and both livestream viewers and artists complain about the lukewarm crowds. For two Canadian bands who made their Coachella debut this year, it’s an exciting opportunity. Others see room for improvement.

When fans buy their tickets to Coachella, the iconic music festival that draws star-studded lineups and influencer crowds looking to flex their social media cachet in the California desert, they probably don't think about where they're going to pee while waiting to get in.

Yet that's exactly what some who paid to park their cars and camp at the venue found themselves struggling with late last week, with fans reporting long waits to get into the festival grounds at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.

Tiktok user @notliss posted that her group had been waiting in their cars for 10 hours, calling it "dehumanizing." 

"People are literally using the bathroom behind bushes like animals, and they paid over $600 [US] to be here," she said in a Thursday video.

  • IN PHOTOS | Highlights from Coachella

For fans who made the trek to Coachella, this was just the first hurdle, with attendees reporting that the already pricey food options were even more expensive than usual. That, combined with complaints about tepid crowd responses from fans watching livestreams and some musicians themselves, has many wondering: just who is Coachella for: the artists, festivalgoers or fans watching from home?  

Crowds take in the first weekend of music at Coachella Valley Music last Saturday. ...
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