Coachella's early years were seen as a success story for alternative culture

Coachella is one of the largest music festivals in the world

Coachella is one of the largest music festivals in the US, though it almost didn't make it past its tumultuous first year. This overview explores how that show inspired the first Coachella in 1999, its early setbacks, and how it grew into a cultural mainstay.

The first Coachella lost $1M

Coachella is now the premier live music festival in the US, but it almost didn't survive its financially catastrophic first year, which featured extreme heat and attracted only 50,000 attendees. The festival did not return until 2001—thanks to entertainment company AEG, which purchased Goldenvoice and provided the capital needed to continue.

Goldenvoice, Coachella's promoter, began with punk and gangster rap

This documentary produced by Coachella tells the story of Goldenvoice—a scrappy upstart booking punk, hardcore, and gangster rap shows in Southern California—and how it created one of the biggest festivals in the world. Beyond the narrative, though, this is worth watching for incredible performances from the White Stripes, Kendrick Lamar, Amy Winehouse, and more.

A short-lived dance festival gave a promoter the idea for Coachella

In 1996, Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett helped organize the Organic festival, an all-night electronic music festival held at a ski resort east of Los Angeles. Tollett said he was inspired by the way Organic's lineup brought the United Kingdom's burgeoning rave culture to a distinctly picturesque and American venue and environment.

See every Coachella lineup from the festival's 2-plus decades

The unveiling of the Coachella poster has become an annual cultural tradition (and an amusing internet meme). This official collection of every poster from the festival's lifespan showcases the undercard acts that eventually became headliners, as well as the big names that fell into obscurity. The collection shows not only a fascinating illustration of the evolution of pop culture, but also subtle changes in Coachella's design, offering a case study in slowly refining a brand's identity.

Take a visual tour of past Coachellas

This collection of photographs features shots from every year of the festival's history, with portraits of acts like Rage Against the Machine, Oasis, and Lady Gaga gracing its legendary stages.

Influencers have changed what music festivals look like

One major criticism of Coachella is that it's a playground for ultrarich people, with celebrities and influencers posing for selfies at a polo club. This article dissects the legitimacy of that stereotype and argues that the backlash to it has altered the festival's cultural standing.

Coachella fashion repurposes looks from Woodstock

Coachella attendees’ flower-forward fashion sense has been widely replicated (and lampooned) since the festival became a mainstay of the cultural calendar. This podcast, featuring a panel of style writers and music reporters, traces the aesthetic back to the 1969 Woodstock festival. In the process, they also look to untangle why festivalgoers fall into certain styles—and what that means for Coachella and its attendees.

How Pearl Jam helped inspire Coachella

Pearl Jam hasn't yet played Coachella, but they did play a major role in inspiring the annual music festival. The story goes back to 1993, when Pearl Jam was protesting all Ticketmaster-owned venues, which made playing a Los Angeles-area date next to impossible. That led concert promoter Goldenvoice to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where the first Coachella took place six years later.

A typical weekend at Coachella can cost thousands of dollars

Coachella might be a cutting-edge cultural event, but it doesn't come for free. Beyond the high ticket prices—which typically start around $500—there are other costs, like lodging, food, and libations. This article spotlights four attendees who break down their expenses for the week and why, despite the hefty price tag, they were so interested in heading to the desert.

Coachella got its name from a typo

The Coachella Valley, the region of California where the annual Coachella music festival takes place, got its name from an unlikely place: a typographical error. The intended name was "Conchilla," which means "little shell" in Spanish, a reference to fossils found in the area. Paperwork at the printer was misspelled, however, and "Coachella" ended up sticking, all the way until it was officially designated a city in 1946.

Daft Punk's 2006 set helped mainstream electronic dance music

Daft Punk's 2006 Coachella set wasn't just a performance—it was a turning point for electronic music. Their futuristic pyramid, dazzling visuals, and seamless live mixing captivated a packed crowd and pushed EDM into the mainstream.

Frank Ocean's 2023 appearance was a notorious catastrophe

Ocean's Coachella performance was one of the most anticipated in the festival's 20-plus years. He was an enigmatic but generation-defining artist, so a headlining set on Coachella's legendary stage seemed like the perfect place for him to reveal the next step in his artistic journey. Unfortunately, it was a slipshod and confusing spectacle—rife with technical issues—and left fans disappointed and confused.

How a crew of hippies and nerdy teens in 1970 launched the global phenomenon of Comic-Con

Brinke Stevens and nearly 50 early organizers recount assembling Comic‑Con in 1970s San Diego—starting with just 300 attendees in a hotel basement—and how that grassroots, inclusive mix of fans sparked an enduring and worldwide pop‑culture movement.

The story of the debut 1967 Consumer Electronics Show

Read an account of the origins of the first CES in New York in 1967, a story which is surprisingly difficult to find information about.

'Burners' say their time spent at Burning Man changed their life

A first-hand account from habitual burner Theresa Christine gives insight into the unique festival offering endless art, entertainment, parties, and genuine interactions with strangers.

The inaugural Cannes Film Festival featured legendary directors

The festival’s first year was 1946. It featured 11 films from some of the world’s best filmmakers, including Jean Cocteau, Alfred Hitchcock, George Sydney, and Billy Wilder.

Cult classics are often defined by their initial commercial failure

Whether they're films, albums, television shows, or some other work of art, cult classics usually develop ardent followings because of their early struggles, either as box office flops or modest, self-released affairs. Richard Kelly, director of cult film "Donnie Darko," explains why he believes that endears audiences.

Joan Didion's 1967 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' laid the hippie counterculture bare

Didion wrote a detailed account of living alongside hippies in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury area in the 1960s. Beyond their style and politics, Didion uncovered chaos, with one particularly shocking interview of a 5-year-old on LSD. Her stories challenged the movement's message of freedom and utopia in California.

An interactive history of Calypso, the Caribbean protest music genre

Before reggae and ska in the US, there was calypso, a protest genre developed in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1800s. This resource brings together images, descriptions, audio, and videos to teach you the origins of a massively influential musical genre.

Read an early piece of journalism on country music

This 1904 Harper’s Weekly article from Emma Bell Miles offers an early example of country music criticism. Miles traces the music’s roots to the mountaineers who pioneered it. It’s a famous piece for music writers: Miles saw a phenomenon building in the hills long before any major record label.

The history of American summer camps

The modern summer camp was created in 1861 by a boarding school educator who wanted to teach his students military-grade self-sufficiency and discipline. Over the next century, the camp evolved, providing a solution for parents anxious about their kids' thin connections with nature and simplicity. This Atlas Obscura article traces the history from modest, independent operations to a sprawling seasonal industry.

Chicano artists shaped the celebration of Day of the Dead in the US

Beginning in the 1970s, Mexican-American artists have used Day of the Dead components like ofrendas and festivals to combine cultural identity with social justice movements, highlighting indigenous traditions to address issues like gang violence.

7 prominent investors rejected Airbnb in its early days

Airbnb is arguably known as one of the most successful startup stories of all time. But back in 2008, many prominent investors rejected their pitch when they went out to raise money—and Airbnb's founder still has the rejection emails to prove it.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Documenting the first year of the WNBA

The WNBA was launched in 1997, providing a historic opportunity for women’s basketball. Two weeks after the WNBA kicked off its inaugural season, NBC aired this hourlong documentary, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the league’s first games. The documentary also looks at the first pro league, the All-American Red Heads, and provides stories of the premier players in the WNBA.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.