If you are a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ person, this article isn’t for you. However, if you’re like me and planning every detail in advance soothes your soul, then please continue reading. 

As I mentioned previously, my first trip to Coachella is coming up soon (here’s my post on what I’m wearing to Coachella) and I was absolutely clueless at the start of planning it. 

I’ve learned so much about the process of planning and budgeting to attend a music festival, so today I wanted to share my tips. Read on if you’re thinking of planning your own Coachella trip next year!

Table of Contents

Pre-Festival Planning:

Unless you want to camp in a tent far from the venue (which is fine if that’s your thing), please heed my warning and PLAN AHEAD. When it comes to Coachella (and other festivals), hidden expenses pop up, hotels and parking fill up fast, and you can’t afford to flounder around at the last minute.

The first thing you want to lay out is your budget. Don’t expect to get by with $1000 for the weekend when your ticket alone costs a little over $400. 

To plan for these expenses and more, I made a spreadsheet. I listed all of the things I knew I was going to have to pay for and at what time I’d have to pay for each thing. I started with the festival ticket, or in my case, the payment plan for the ticket. (When you purchase the ticket you have the option of doing a payment plan. Every month you pay for a chunk of the ticket so your poor bank account isn’t suffering as much as it normally would.)

From the time you buy the ticket up until they announce the lineup, you should be thinking about which hotel you want to stay at and how long you plan to stay there. It is in your best interest to book your hotel before the lineup is announced. If you want to do it as soon as tickets go on sale, that’s totally fine, but if not then don’t wait any later than November/December. Once word is out in January, people start panicking and before you know it you’re paying $2,000 A NIGHT for a hotel. You don’t want to end up there.