Goldenvoice just wrapped the first weekend of its Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California. In addition to the hoards of showgoers came a crush of brands, which consistently choose the first weekend of the two-weekend festival to market their wares and experiences.
Themes that stood out amid the dozens of parties all over the desert landscape were an abundance of floral and succulent motifs; a new attention to health-conscious food and experiences; and an omnipresence of beauty stations, with GlamSquad and other professional beauty service providers setting up stations at nearly every party.
Brent Bolthouse's Neon Carnival—back for its sixth year with a whole new lineup of sponsors including Paper magazine, Pacific Sun, Dope the movie, and tequila Don Julio—was again the centerpiece of the weekend, drawing thousands for all-night revelry. And the H.Wood Group's Boosty Bellows, along with sponsors McDonald's and Chevrolet, hosted its massive private residence bash. The Narrative Group handled media and produced the party with support from ESE Lifestyle. Nylon transformed a Bermuda Dunes estate pool area and adjacent airplane hangar for an all-night party, with production by NVE: The Experience Agency, in the Friday-night slot formerly occupied by Details.
Apart from such blowouts, many parties offered smaller, more targeted, and even more upscale experiences. Soho House again hosted an elite weekend-long program of events in the desert. PopSugar and ShopStyle took over the former Viceroy hotel, now known as the Avalon, with high-end event programming over the weekend.
Also among the lower-profile retreats was a new weekend of events at the 20-room Sparrows Lodge, known as the Retreat, where guests found gifting suites, spa and beauty treatments, healthy food and drinks like Health-Ade kombucha, and an overall focus on wellness and comfort.
Elsewhere, M.A.C. Cosmetics and Mia Moretti hosted a daytime poolside event at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs on Friday, taking cues from their collaboration collection inspired by the upcoming summer festival season. Official festival sponsor H&M hosted a small group for sunset cocktails at the Parker Palm Springs, a significant departure from its former massive bash at the 40-acre Merv Griffin estate. Another newcomer, Rachel Zoe and The Zoe Report, hosted a pool party with Dolce Vita on Saturday in Palm Springs. Pandora brought Questlove for its Cathedral City party, which included a teeter-totter and snow cones. Newcomer Refinery29 hosted a party at the Saguaro with hair braiding from Garnier.
And a weekend-long pool party known as the Influential House drew a select group of targeted social media influencers along with brands to engage them.