Coachella Festival Sells Out in Less Than a Week

For the first time since its creation in 1999, The Coachella Music Festival has sold out of tickets in less than one week. The over the top music festival has been growing in popularity over the years and appears to be the current generations "Woodstock."


The first concert held at Coachella was held in 1993, where Pearl Jam played in front over over 25,000 fans. Over the years it has developed into the biggest music festival in America, topping Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.


According to Rolling Stone: "this year's festival sold at a much faster pace than the previous year. Whereas 51,000 tickets to this year's event had been sold by Monday, only 11,000 tickets were sold in the same timeframe in 2010." 

For the full Rolling Stone article click here.


I believe that there are two main reasons for the success of this years Coachella Festival. One is the current economy. Many fans aren't willing to pay high ticket prices to see their favorite bands play over the course of the year. Instead, they are waiting until summer festivals where they can see many acts for a single ticket price. The other reason for this years amazing ticket sales is the remarkable line-up. The headliners are a "who's-who" of todays modern music industry. This years line0-up includes The Kings of Leon, Jay-Z, Kanye West, The Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, and a reunion of Duran Duran. For the full-lineup click here.


The three-day festival is set to take place April 15th-17th. They are expecting over 50,000 fans to be in attendance. Those fans will be camping overnight in temperatures that reach over 100 degrees during the day. From an project management prospective this is a huge endeavor. There is an immense amount of planning and preparation for an event as big as this to be successful. There needs to be on-sight facilities to deal with food, water, and sanitation. There is over 50 different bands flying in over the weekend to play over the three day period, and there must be adequate staff to deal with security and operations. The scope of the event is huge, it will be interesting to see how it is handled and how it will affect future music festivals.


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/why-coachella-sold-out-in-less-than-a-week-20110127


http://www.coachella.com/


Here is a short film about last year's Coachella Festival. It shows some of the size and scope of the actual event.