Coachella’s Culinary Conundrum: Festivalgoers Express Outrage Over Sky-High Food Prices
When Coachella rolls around each year, music enthusiasts flock to the festival, hoping to revel in unforgettable performances and vibrant experiences. However, it seems that the culinary experience this year has left many attendees shaking their heads in disbelief over the astronomical prices of food and drink.
A Festival of Music and Mayhem in California
Taking place in the sun-baked desert of Indio, California, the iconic Coachella festival consistently attracts over 100,000 music lovers each session, alongside a dazzling array of celebrity faces, including the likes of Taylor Swift and Jeff Bezos. The lineup for 2025 features big names including Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, Green Day, Post Malone, and Megan Thee Stallion. However, amidst the glitz and glam, one burning question remains: How much is too much for food?
Ouch! The Shock of Menu Prices
With attendees already wrestling with issues like car park chaos and record-breaking heat, many are now tackling a different beast: the cost of sustenance during the festival. As prices skyrocket, festival-goers are voicing their opinions on social media platforms, particularly TikTok.
On Friday evening, dubbed ‘day zero’ of the festival, Ruth Viveros took to TikTok, sharing her frustrations in a video titled, “Come have dinner with me at Coachella.” As she approached a food truck, Ruth narrated, “I’m starving, so let’s go get tacos… while I wait for the tacos, I got a $17 lemonade. It’s mostly ice, but it’s so good.”
Disappointment Served on a Styrofoam Platter
However, when her tacos and nachos finally arrived, they came with a jaw-dropping price tag of $102. “Honestly, they are not good at all. The tortillas were like freezing cold,” Ruth lamented, giving her meal a mere five out of ten. This sentiment resonated with many viewers who flooded the comments, with one user exclaiming, “Coachella seems like a miserable money trap that everyone falls for.” Another commenter added, “The fact that GENERAL ADMISSION is $600 and you still have to pay that much for mid food is making me irrationally angry.”
A Collective Outcry Over Prices
The dismay didn’t stop there. Within a Reddit thread dedicated to Coachella experiences, attendees described food prices as extremely high, with most items starting at $15-20 and “meals” ranging from $20-30. One disgruntled participant summed it up perfectly: “Basically 2.5x the price you can grab it outside the festival.”
Other jaw-dropping prices included $11 for a slice of pepperoni pizza, $20 for chicken tenders with fries, and $30 for a chicken slider with fries. Further exclamations of disbelief came from one man, who vented, “$16 for warm Heineken Silvers? What’s up with that? You pay $16 for a beer, only to sip and discover it was likely just put in the ice. Shty beer made even shtier because it’s room temperature… the f**kin’ worst!”
The Culinary Promise or a Pricey Scheme?
According to the official Coachella website, the festival aims to feature “new and exciting restaurants from Coast to Coast, as well as your favorite staples, offering a variety of cuisine that pleases any festival-goer.” However, as many attendees quickly discovered, the reality didn’t live up to the promise—or the price tag.
In a world where food should enrich experiences, one can’t help but wonder if Coachella will heed the outcry from its attendees concerning food quality and pricing in the future. As the festival continues, the social media chatter surrounding overpriced meals seems unlikely to subside.
Will Coachella rise to the occasion and meet the expectations of its loyal fans? Only time will tell.
