Coachella 2017, Week 1
I went to Coachella this year for the first time -at 53 years old. The first Coachella happened in 1999 when I was 36 years old. Even if I was really on it at that time and went, I still would have been old. In some ways, age is just a number there, in other ways it most definitely isn’t. Like when you have to walk miles and miles as you go from stage to stage, or wait forever behind some child who is having their identification scrutinized knowing it will take seconds for security to look at my face and check to see that my I.D. isn’t expired. I’m going to write the organizers and suggest they create a line at the I.D. Check for “Obviously over 21″ they can call it the “Not Too Proud” line, because old people don’t like to wait needlessly.
The atmosphere at Coachella is one of inclusiveness and love. There were a couple instances where a group of young people would sit down beside us (I attended with my cousin, she’s 35 -looks 22. Sometimes people think I’m her mom) anyways, groups of young people would sit down beside us and start up conversations. Usually, “Hi, where are you from?” I feel like I was so in my head about my age, and thinking in the back of my mind, “What could I possibly have to talk about with this child”, that I didn’t get the full experience of meeting and learning about new people. While the music at the festival was great - truly memorable, I think that I missed out on the social aspect of it, one of the reasons why I’ll return next year, and I’ll keep an open mind, and just be, and try not to think too much.
I’ll get a little practice in at FYF in July. This is the first year that they are expanding to 3 days, so I don’t know if people will attend from all over the world like at Coachella. One thing I’m sure of though is that I’ll be at least 30 years older than the average age of the attendees. I’m not going to let that hinder my experience and fun. I guess in any situation, It’s important to connect on what you have in common with people, and celebrate what you don’t.
