By now, we are all dreaming of festival summers as we wistfully look back at the ones we have attended and would have attended.
Today, Coachella would have opened its stages for the 21st time in its incredible history–if not, like so many others it had to be canceled.
Having that in mind, let’s take a quick look back at the story behind the famous festival. Although being successful today, Coachella’s early years didn’t start out so smoothly.
© Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash
In 1999, when the Californian festival was held for the first time, the event organizers suffered major financial losses of almost a million dollars. This loss can be mostly attributed to fewer attendees than expected: Instead of the hoped-for 700000 ticket sales, only a little more than half of this goal was reached. And it didn’t end there. Not only did the festival not take place the following year, but it would also take another few years until the first positive financial outcome. Yet, overall positive critics, better organization, and the will to continue led to Coachella becoming one of the greatest and most appreciated, legendary festivals, which hopefully can return next year.
In times like these, where a lot of us, in several sectors, experience major setbacks, these are the stories we need to keep going.
Stay positive!