Coachella campers complain about long waits: See photos as music festival kicks off
As music lovers descend on Indio, California for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival beginning Friday, several attendees took to social media to talk about massive wait times.
Some people partaking in car camping said they waited upwards of 12 hours to enter the festival grounds and find a spot to set up.
Weekend one of Coachella officially kicks off on Friday with gates opening at 1 p.m. Lady Gaga is headlining the festival; she is scheduled to come on after 11 p.m. PST.
The second weekend of performances will be from April 18-20.
Take a look at the chaos and long lines campers are enduring to attend one of America's biggest music festivals.
Coachella 2025: See first week's lineup, daily schedule, set times, how to watch livestream
Photos show long lines for Coachella car camping
One TikTok user by the name of @notliss described being stuck in line for nearly 10 hours in her post on April 10. In her TikTok video, which has garnered more than 43 thousand likes and over 700 comments, notliss said they hadn't gone through security yet.
"People have literally been using the bathroom behind bushes like animals and they paid like over $600 to be here," the TikTok user said about car campers waiting in the long lines. "This whole experience has been so disappointing and it's been extremely dehumanizing."
Several posts under the Coachella Reddit page describe long waits for festivalgoers doing car camping, with one user asking: "Is there any way to get gasoline to your campsite? Been stuck in line for well over 8 hours and running low."
Another post on Reddit said car campers need either a partial or full refund, saying they've waited over nine hours to get inside the festival grounds. A Reddit user in the same thread said it took them 13 hours to get in.
Social media users have criticized the organizers of Coachella, Goldenvoice , a Los Angeles-based concert promoter, for the lengthy traffic.
USA TODAY contacted Goldenvoice on Friday but has not received a response.
How to watch Coachella 2025 on livestream
Coachella performances will be available on YouTube. The streams are scheduled to start on April 11 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT . Fans will be able to watch multiple stages from their couch simultaneously, while a vertical livestream option featuring DJ sets will also be available.
Coachella 2025 set times: When is Lady Gaga performing?
A complete list of day-by-day set times can be found on Coachella's website, or the festival's Instagram .
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Photos: Coachella car campers complain about long waits
