A funny thing happened on the way to the beer garden at Coachella this year.
No one checked wristbands to make sure you were at least 21 on the way in. And more significantly; no one cared if walked in onto the festival grounds with your alcoholic beverages either.
For the first time Coachella’s history, festival-goers are able take their drinks on the field and to the stages.
Not that organizers made a big deal about it before the gates opened on Friday afternoon; as most people said they had no idea they were now free-range drinkers until they saw the security guards weren’t around.
“I walked out yesterday (with beers) with a group of friends and I thought, ‘We can’t do this,’” said Jack Patton of Sacramento, as he sipped a hazy IPA in the craft beer tent.
Patton said he figures the change will make for safer imbibing at Coachella. In the past, friends would smuggle in harder stuff hidden in water bottles and the like.
“It’s just beer, it’s not a shot or a whole water bottle of it,” he said.
Daniel Eapen and Stanley Wong came from Toronto for their first Coachella this year. They’d never experienced the beer garden lockdown here before, but knew it from other festivals they’ve attended.
“I’m not really a big fan of dancing with a drink in my hand, so it doesn’t really affect me much,” Eapen said, a cup of Pilsner on the table in front of him. “But it would be nice if you were waiting with your friends to walk around, I guess.”
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Lena Aceveto of Ventura County was the only person we found who knew that Coachella had changed the rules. Her husband goes deep into the Coachella social media sites and had seen something on Reddit.
“This place used to be super crowded because you couldn’t leave,” she said looking around the Craft Beer garden that had plenty of room on Saturday.
“I think it’s better now,” Aceveto said. “I like that you don’t have to stay out. You can go and enjoy a set and a drink.”