Coachella Valley Music Festival is the largest music festival in the U.S., and its home, the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California has become the host to festivals several weekends of the year. These few weekends a year have a huge impact on the area due to the mass amounts of people it draws.

Here’s a breakdown of the economic effects from the two Coachella weekends and Stagecoach in 2016:

• $704 million – estimated overall economic activity, made up of consumer spending and business spending that was generated by the three festival weekends.
• $403 million – spent in the Coachella Valley area
• $106 million – that went into the city of Indio’s economy- benefitting their businesses
• $3.18 million – in tax revenue for Indio that was made from ticket sales
• Estimated 10,000 people stayed in Airbnbs
• Estimated 100,000 people there during each day of Coachella
• Estimated 70,000 people there during each day of Stagecoach

Now that there has been Desert Trip, a new festival this year at the Polo Field’s, it is estimated that there has been an economic impact of $805 million in 2016 from the three festivals combined. It will be interesting to see the outcomes and information on the Desert Trip festival’s impact. So far, it has been estimated that Desert Trip brought $250 million into the Coachella Valley economy. This all has been a huge move forward since 2012 when the Polo Field’s contract with Golden Voice begun.

Some of the economic outcomes from Coachella and Stagecoach in 2012 were-

• $254 million – spent in the Coachella Valley area
• $90 million – that went into the city of Indio’s economy- benefitting their businesses
• $1.4 million – in tax revenue for Indio that was made from ticket sales

This can partly be attributed to ticket prices increasing and many more people attending each day now.

These effects on Indio’s economy and the Coachella Valley area’s economy have allowed for renovations to business and infrastructure. It has also brought new businesses, hotels and other tourists due to the city’s new “City of Festivals” reputation and mystique. This effects will most likely grow as the festivals continue to grow. The city of Indio recently approved Golden Voice’s proposal to increase Coachella’s attendance by 26,000 people and Stagecoach’s attendance by 10,000 people. The proposal also included expanding the festival site by 42-acres and adding more parking and camping sites. It allows sound checks to start at 8 a.m. instead of at 10 a.m. as well. It is predicted that the growth in attendance would give Indio $1 million more in ticket taxes.

Moving forward, the city of Indio is making efforts to bring more people to their city year-round rather than just during those few weeks during the year.

Sources:
http://www.kmir.com/story/31553258/goldenvoice-proposes-attendance-increase-to-coachella-and-stagecoach
http://www.cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/news/politics/item/3385-to-lead-the-city-of-festivals-seven-candidates-compete-for-two-seats-on-the-indio-city-council
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-coachella-impact-20160723-snap-story.html
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/indio/2016/03/22/goldenvoice-concerts-coachella-economic-impact/82141410/

Gold Mine in the Desert

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/07/oldchella-set-to-be-a-boon-of-at-least-250-million-to-coachella-valley.html