Here’s Why Stagecoach Is Actually Better Than Coachella
If you're having a music festival popularity contest, Coachella will win pretty much every time.
Much like Regina George in Mean Girls, everyone knows about Coachella. They might feel personally victimized by the entirety of the exhausting Coachella experience, but Coachella has established itself as the top dog of festival season, so everyone just falls into line behind it.
However, as the self-declared Gretchen Wieners of the music festival scene, I'm here to ask you: Why should Coachella get to stomp around like a giant while we all try not to get smushed under its big feet? People totally like Stagecoach just as much as they like Coachella. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that Stagecoach is better than Coachella.
Not convinced anyone can dethrone the festival to end all festivals? Keep scrolling to see all my reasoning behind this controversial festival hierarchy.
Stagecoach Is Way Less Pressure
As Coachella has increased in popularity, there's also been a huge increase in the pressure surrounding actually attending the festival. Can you just put together a decently cute outfit that will keep you comfy in the desert heat? Of course not! You have to stay up-to-date with this year's latest trends so you blend in with the crowd, but also compile a clever enough outfit to ensure that you have a unique look. This one simple feat can take days off your life, and that doesn't even touch on ensuring that you attend the right parties, that you're present for the best sets and that you spot enough celebs roaming around to make the high price tag worth it.
Stagecoach, on the other hand, is all about mellow vibes. Not only can you simply throw on some cowboy boots and tie a flannel around your waist, there are also no worries about which parties to attend because that's not really part of the Stagecoach scene. Instead, you spend three days lounging by the pool (or wherever you might be staying) in the mornings and heading to the festival in the late afternoon to listen to some great music and spend time with your friends. Sounds like a win in my book.
Stagecoach Doesn't Make You Choose Between Your Favorite Musicians
One huge draw of Coachella is the fact that there are just so many musicians performing at the festival. That might sound like a positive thing…until, you have to choose between two of your favorite singers because their set times overlap. Stagecoach, however, spreads the timing of their acts much more evenly. Many of the people that you really want to see will be performing on the Main Stage one right after the other, with breaks in-between for bathrooms and refreshments. There might be few musicians that you really want to see on a smaller stage, but you can usually make time for them between some of the bigger performances. With Stagecoach, you get to experience every set you want to see, rather than missing out on some awesome music because the timing just doesn't work out.
Stagecoach Is More Relaxing
Because Coachella has so many musicians performing the whole weekend, you spend all your time running from one set to the next trying to catch everyone you want to see. There's hardly time to catch your breath, much less sit down and rest your tired and sore feet.
Stagecoach takes a much more laid back approach. The one big stage means that you can hear most of your favorite musicians from wherever you happen to be, so if you want to step away and grab a bite to eat or sit down for a little while, you won't really miss anything. Plus, there's a solid half an hour between each performance that allows you to reorient yourself, find a better spot for the next musician or just spend some quality time with your people.
Stagecoach Is Less Expensive
As Coachella grows in popularity, the price tag grows, too. Add in lodging for the weekend (because no one actually wants to camp) and supplies for all your trendy outfits, and you're forking over a pretty hefty sum of money to attend the festival—especially if you didn't get a ticket in the first sale and you have to pay the higher prices of a third-party seller.
Meanwhile, Stagecoach is decently affordable. It's still a music festival, of course, so we would never claim it's cheap, but budgeting for Stagecoach is guaranteed to put a much lighter strain on your bank account. Plus, Stagecoach rarely sells out completely, so you never have to worry about paying higher prices because you couldn't get one of the original on-sale tickets.
Still want to give Coachella a shot? We don't blame you! Click HERE for eight reasons why you must attend the biggest music festival at least once.