MAIN Travel USA California Coachella

Every year, an oasis of music and art appears in the middle of the California desert called Coachella.

Often called "the 21st century Woodstock," the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was first put on the map in 1999 with the very first concerts on October 9 and 10 staged on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club in the city of Indio. Acts like Beck, Rage Against the Machine, The Chemical Brothers, and Morrissey attracted a huge crowd of 25,000.

Since then, Coachella has gone through several changes, not the least of which has been a change in scheduling. To make the event quite literally 'cooler,' the music and arts fest was moved from its oppressively hot October date to a much more weather-friendly April slate that has resulted in even bigger crowds to the now hugely popular music fest.

Today, Coachella attracts more than 200,000 festival-goers annually to a star lineup of headline acts from rock, indie, Hip Hop and electronic music as well as eye-catching kinetic and water sculptures gracing the festival grounds.

Coachella 2012 Lineup

This year, Coachella looked to set another attendance record when tickets went on sale in January --and sold out in less than three hours.

This year's concert lineup includes The Black Keys, Radiohead, and Dr. Dre with Snoop Dogg headlining the nonstop music fest over two weekends from April 13-15 and April 20-22.

Friday (April 13, April 20)
Headliner: The Black Keys

Swedish House Mafia, Pulp, Refused, Arctic Monkeys, Mazzy Star, Afrojack, Explosions in the Sky, M83, Amon Tobin, Cat Power, Madness, Jimmy Cliff & Tim Armstrong, GIRLS, the Rapture, Madeon, M. Ward, the Horrors, Frank Ocean, James Alesso, Sebastien, Yuck, Neon Indian, Dawes, Black Angels, Deathgrips, Wu Lyf, Breakbot, Atari Teenage Riot, Feed Me, Givers, Other Lives, Band of Skulls, R3hab, Wolfgang, Midnight Beast, EMA, Ximena Sarinana, Kendrick Lamar, The Dear Hunter, Honeyhoney, Hello Seahorse!, Sheepdogs, LA Riots

Saturday (April 14, April 21)
Headliner: Radiohead

Bon Iver, the Shins, David Guetta, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Kaskade, Miike Snow, Jeff Mangum, Sebastian Ingrosso, Andrew Bird, Feist, Firehose, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, St. Vincent, Martin Solveig, Subfocus, Sbtrkt, Flying Lotus, Manchester Orchestra, Kasabian, AWOL Nation, Azealia Banks, Squeeze, A$AP Rocky, Buzzcocks, Kaiser Chiefs, Destroyer, the Head and the Heart, Laura Marling, Tuneyards, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Black Lips, the Big Pink, Childish Gambino, the Vaccines, Zed's Dead, Grouplove, Jacques Lu Cont, We Were Promised, Jetpacks, Gary Clark Jr., Borgore, Dragonette, We Are Augustines, Mt. Eden, Destructo, Suedehead, Keep Shelley in Athens, Pure Filth Sound.

Sunday (April 15, April 22)
Headliner: Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg

At the Drive-In, Justice, Florence and the Machine, AVICII, La Roux, Beirut, the Weeknd, Girl Talk, the Hives, DJ Shadow, Calvin Harris, Nero, Wild Flag, Modeselektor, Dada Life, Porter Robinson, Santigold, Flux Pavilion, Dr. P, Gotye, Seun Keti, Egypt 80, Beats Antique, Fitz and the Tantrums, Araabmuzik, Company Flow, Real Estate, Zed, Le Bucherettes, Greg Ginn, the Growlers, Noisia, Morgan Page, Gaslamp Killer, First Aid Kit, Oberhofer, Lissie, Thundercat, Metronomy, Wild Beasts, Housse de Racket, Fanfarlo, Spector, Gardens & Villa, Airplane Boys, Sleeper Agent.

Getting to Coachella

By plane, the closest airport to Coachella is Palm Springs International Airport, with a half hour's drive to Indio near the Coachella festival.

LA International (LAX) and San Diego International Airport are better bets if you're looking for airfare and car rental deals.

If driving to Coachella from either Los Angeles or San Diego count on a two-hour drive. It's a five hour drive from Las Vegas, or an eight hour drive from San Francisco.

Of course, you can expect traffic jams the closer you get to Coachella on concert days, so take all the above with a big grain of salt - but the good news? On arrival, parking is free.

Directions to Coachella

• From Los Angeles: I-10 east to exit 10 (Jefferson Street)
• From San Diego: I-15 north to Highway 215 north, then to Highway 60 east to Highway 10 east to exit 10 (Jefferson Street).
• From San Francisco: Take I-5 south, then Highway 10 east. Take exit 10 (Jefferson Street).
• From Las Vegas: Take I-15 south, then I-10 east to exit 10 (Jefferson Street)

For detailed driving directions, see Coachella on Google Maps

Playing it safe at Coachella

First and foremost, be sure to pack enough bottled water to stay hydrated. To ward off the effects of the baking desert sun, a good sunscreen also comes in handy. Since you're going to be on your feet for most of the day, comfortable shoes are an absolute necessity.

At Coachella, the extremes of temperature during hot desert days and cooler nights should always be taken into account (hint: dress in layers) and, like attending any outdoor summer concert, the weather plays a big part in the enjoyment. So, plan ahead, and have fun!

More about the 2012 Coachella Fest around the Web:

Coachella.com - The official site with guides to admission and ticket passes, music fest schedule and concert lineup, maps and directions, photos, videos, camping and lodging information.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival - Wikipedia entry with a complete history of the event, notable acts, camping information, photos and related resources.

also see -> California Camping | California Wineries

California Fall Foliage | Moving to California