The Stagecoach Country Music Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are traditions at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, where people from outside the country and surrounding cities make the annual trek. While the festivals always fall in April and occur on consecutive weekends, they share similarities and differences that make up their individual identities.
Without much surprise, Coachella this year sold out both weekends, thanks in part to Justin Bieber and the Beilbers, who showed up ready to catch his debut as a festival headliner. While Stagecoach didn’t sell out, many country fans still came in droves to yee-haw.
Here are more comparisons between the two festivals:
The music
Coachella: Coachella features music from around the world, and this year it was led by some of pop music’s most prominent acts, including Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, and Colombian superstar Karol G, who made history as the first Latina to headline. Coachella varies by genre, including rising Latin music acts like 54 Ultra and leading hardcore bands such as Turnstile, and always has one artist that’s a little quirkier, like the Bob Baker Marionettes. Because Coachella has two weekends, they tend to feature a surprise set for each, and this year that included Jack White on Weekend 1 and Kacey Musgraves on Weekend 2. The bill at the festival also features more artists than at Stagecoach, and the programming at Coachella extends past midnight, while Stagecoach ends earlier, despite featuring late-night performances by Diplo, Pitbull and Ludacris, who closed out the festival each night.
Stagecoach: The music at this festival is mostly country-focused, with headliners such as Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson and Post Malone, who has more recently dabbled in the genre. While the event continues to be one of the largest country music festivals in the U.S., this year saw an inclusion of ’90s rock acts such as The Counting Crows, Bush, and Third Eye Blind performing on the revived Mustang stage. Stagecoach has featured rock bands before, from ZZ Top to Goo Goo Dolls, but this year felt more intentional in its selection, and the crowd seemed to give each act a warm welcome during their sets. Perhaps Stagecoach could be the new home that ’90s rock is looking for in our nostalgic throwback culture.
Both festivals incorporate a variety of EDM in their programming, a trend that has only increased over the years. DJs Major Lazer and Anyma even made it onto the mainstage at Coachella, and the Quasar Stage returned once more. At Stagecoach, Diplo’s Honkytonk returned this year and welcomed Rebecca Black, DJ Pauly D and Emo Nite, who brought out Ashlee Simpson as a guest.
Every year, there is at least one artist who fits both festival bills and sticks around for the three weekends, and this year that acolyte was Teddy Swims — and his buddy David Lee Roth, who came out with him as a surprise guest each weekend.
Both lineups are also streamed as part of Coachella’s “Couch-chella” programming on YouTube, while Stagecoach streams on Amazon Prime Video. A major difference, though, is that YouTube allows users to fast-forward or rewind each day before the next day’s performance, while Amazon does not include this feature, so if you miss anything and want to go back, you’re out of luck.
The food
Coachella: The menu options showcase a variety of Asian and Latin-inspired restaurants, pizzas and even a spicy Buldak crawl. One of the major differences this year was the expansion of vegan and vegetarian options, which could easily rival the meat options. If guests want to splurge, the event offers four-course farm-to-table dinners priced over $350 per person, prepared by different chefs each day.
Stagecoach: No other food pairs better with country music than BBQ. This year, chef Guy Fieri’s Stagecoach Smokehouse — a 40,000-square-foot tent of smoked and seasoned meats — returned, featuring celebrities competing and trying new food. The stand also passes out free BBQ samples to those patiently waiting by the smokehouse and who watch the cooking demos. Although Stagecoach leans heavily on meats, there were some veggie and vegan options, although very limited, along with a few Asian and Mexican food stands.
The activations
Coachella: The activities at this festival are more art-focused and interactive. This year, a group of people dressed as Hippos took over the festival with a fun performance art piece that spectators could watch. The Record Safari store returned, as did the Red Bull Mirage, along with a pop-up tattoo studio.
Stagecoach: The country festival’s activities were on par with cultivating a Western desert ambiance. Festivalgoers were able to shop at the flea market for boots, hats and belt buckles. Stagecoach also featured the Paramount+ Outpost, which gave away freebies to fans of the “Yellowstone” Dutton universe and the series “Landman.” There was also a massive Arby’s sign and a pop-up handing out sandwiches to festivalgoers.
The fashion
Coachella: The festival’s fashion is the more colorful of the two, with many attendees wearing bright hues and kicking uo the creativity with their makeup. It’s common to see more minimalist two-piece sets that could serve as bikinis or lingerie.
Stagecoach: At the country event, the fashion tends to be the same every year, with apparel featuring American-flag-themed designs, cowboy hats, boots, and a whole lot of denim and short-shorts. While the women here are dressed more conservatively, more men opt out of wearing shirts.
The booze
Coachella: The Heineken House returned as the festival’s official beer sponsor, and the Craft Beer Barn also returned with plenty of local and regional craft beers, including IPAs and sours, and some festival cocktails. Sabrina Carpenter also had a themed speakeasy pop-up on site that offered drinks inspired by her and her music.
Stagecoach: Big brand pop-ups returned to the country fest, including Bud Light, Malibu, Golden Road, and Twisted Tea, where people could sit or stand to enjoy their drinks. This year also featured celebrity saloons by actress Sydney Sweeney, who showcased the Syrn saloon to promote her lingerie brand and let guests sing karaoke. Country singer Shaboozey also had his Cherie Lee’s saloon based on his upcoming album, “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales.” Both of the celebrities appeared at the pop-ups over the weekend.
Both festivals also shared the hidden speakeasy Fotoautomatica, which doubled as the Parisian-themed Golden Hour during Coachella.
The camping
Coachella: The campground at Coachella is very communal and wellness-focused, offering tent or car camping and hosting exclusive on-site activities such as morning yoga sessions, Pilates, board games and DJ sets for those who want to keep the party going.
Stagecoach: Instead of cars and tent camping, there is RV camping, which sells out fairly quickly every year but will definitely beat the chance of getting your tents knocked over. The traffic to get in can take a few hours because there are standards and codes each driver must abide by before entering, so inspections are warranted. By the time campers make it in, they’re ready to tailgate, often socializing, playing cornhole, drinking games and filling up their pools.
The weather and grass
Coachella: The first weekend of the festival has green grass as far as the eye can see, but this year, the sold-out event and traffic started to noticeably kill the grass early and by weekend two, it was nearly gone. Weekend 1 was a bit cooler, and Weekend 2 saw more of a heatwave. Winds also picked up Friday night, causing some tents to fly away, dust to be pushed into the air and the cancellation of Anyma’s closing set.
Stagecoach: Although this festival tends to take place on the hottest of the three weekends, with temperatures sometimes hitting triple digits, that was not the case this year. The first day didn’t reach 100 degrees, and the following day, the cool, overcast conditions brought strong winds, prompting the festival to issue a temporary evacuation order and then call festivalgoers back. Oh, and the grass? Gone.