Video: Arcade Fire at Coachella

by Elizabeth Seward on

Music festivals are one of the best ways to spend your sweet summer time. Although we’re still a ways off from the official launch of summer, many music fans consider Coachella the beginning of summer… or, at least, the beginning of summer festivals. As the season of love via live music swings fuller into gear, I’ll help you navigate as many music festivals as I can. But for now, lets talk about Coachella.

Coachella is one of the bigger USA music festivals each year and it’s safe to say that the festival acts as a vacation destination for people across the globe. With 225,000 attendees last year, this year’s festival had a whole lot of hype leading up to its launch. Coachella just wrapped up last night and in case you haven’t heard, it seems as though there might have been some desert-style drama at the event, both good and bad.

Kanye West slammed the event and other event performers. Cee Lo Green showed up late and blamed the festival for his tardiness. But on a more positive energy note, Arcade Fire illuminated their audience with a set you can check out in the video above.

Top Travel Trips: April 2010

by Melanie Nayer on

Festivals come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re heading out for a ride on the carousel at your town’s local spring gathering or booking flights to partake in parties around the world, there’s something exciting about the festival. This month, we found two of the most diverse and entertaining festivals to highlight:

Songkran Festival, Thailand: Of all the feasts and festivals in Thailand, the Songkran Festival is the most expansive because it’s widely observed in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and the Lao State. Songkran is a Sanskrit word which means the “entry of the sun” into any sign of the Zodiac – in this particular instance, the sun enters the sign of Aries or the Ram. This celebration of the vernal equinox coincides with the Thai New Year. The Songkran Festival begins on April 13 and ends April 15, 2010.

Coachella Valley Music Festival, California: The three-day annual music and arts festival takes place in Indio, California, and features music from alternative rock, hip hop, and electronic music legends. This year’s lineup includes everyone from De La Soul to Jay-Z. Festival passes are currently available for $269 for all three days (April 16-18).

Coachella Music Festival, April 27-29

by Willy Volk on

Indio, California is about as far away from my home as possible while still being in the continental United States. It’s sad, too, because Indio is host to the Coachella Music Festival. In my opinion, the 2007 line-up just may be the greatest collection of rock bands to ever assemble in one place.

Scheduled for April 27-29, the rockstravaganza WILL have camp sites available; WON’T allow pets; WILL have vegan food available; and WON’T let people bring in alcohol or drugs — though it will sell cocktails at The Clubhouse. If you think you can live with those and the rest of the rules, then maybe you want to consider shelling out $249 for the three-day pass.

If you’re on the bubble about whether to go or not, check out the 36,000+ images on Flickr tagged Coachella, and see what everyone else has seen in year’s past. Also, of course, get the backstory on the event from the Wikipedia entry.