Honestly, Vanessa

Watching Coachella happen this past weekend brought a lot up for me.

I used to be that girl who loved music festivals. The outfits, the energy, the anticipation leading up to it, the feeling that something exciting was about to happen.

I loved the parts that felt human. The random conversations. The music hitting you at the right moment. The messy, unfiltered experience.

Then life happened.

Covid hit, and my best friend and I used to rave in our living room during quarantine when we lived together, and it was still fun… but it wasn’t the same. You can’t recreate that kind of atmosphere once it’s gone.

And then I got married. I had a baby. My life moved into a completely different season.

So as a retired festival girlie, I didn’t outgrow festivals per se, they just don’t exist in my life the same way anymore.

Every year when festival season comes around, I feel it a lot, that nostalgia, that “I remember what that felt like” kind of feeling.

Give me EDC. Give me Ultra. Give me III Points. Give me Lost Lands. Give me Electric Forest. Give me Shaky Beats… But Coachella though?

Coachella is a massive, high profile celebrity driven “mega-fest” in the California desert focused on mainstream pop, hip-hop, and electronic music.

I’ve never even bother to go to Coachella and I can already tell it would feel like a performance. Like most people aren’t really there for the music, they’re there to be seen and feel cool.

I’ve never really been that into mainstream music like that. I’ve always gravitated more toward electronic music, underground sounds, sets where you can just get lost in it. And Coachella leans heavily into fashion and aesthetics too.

It’s just looks like a different kind of energy. Less movement, less immersion, more curation.

Ultra Music Festival in Miami was intense, loud, and very much about the music and the momentum.

EDC Festival is full on sensory overload, immersive, chaotic in the best way possible. It’s magical.

Electric Forest is just like EDC, but in a forest. So trippy!

Shaky Beats or Knees Festival is a little more grounded, a little more about the music, and easier to actually enjoy without all the extra pressure.

III Points was super underrated, experimental, a little underground but still polished in a cool way.

Festivals should feel organic, a little chaotic, a little sweaty, a little real. Coachella always looks so curated. Polished. Like everyone is playing a role.

And I just couldn’t get into that.

And honestly, I’m not even surprised that this year influencers have been openly begging asking brands to bring them to Coachella, all expenses paid.

People were even creating fake photos with AI to make it look like they were there… like talk about chasing an image.

Watching people get ready for Coachella, wearing henna and belly dancing belts, while people in places like Gaza and Lebanon are being bombed and displaced… it’s honestly been hard to ignore. The contrast feels jarring.

There’s also this contradiction I can’t ignore, the same spaces that mock Arab people on a daily basis will turn around and borrow their aesthetics for fashion.

If anything, it kind of proves my point… it’s less about the music and more about access, visibility, and who gets to be seen there.

I’m actually glad I never cared to go. I was never about to splurge on something like that as its criminally overpriced. It just wasn’t worth it to me.