Comedian and musician Reggie Watts has some thoughts on Coachella, which just concluded its first weekend this past Sunday.
“I’ve been to Coachella a handful of times now, and while the scale is impressive, the soul feels increasingly absent,” Watts wrote on an Instagram post titled “Coachella Thoughts.” “The experience is confusing and impersonal — checkpoint after checkpoint, wristband logic puzzles, security everywhere. Most people on the grounds move like walking credit cards, pinging from one branded experience to the next,” he wrote.
He continued: “There’s no real sense of love coming from the festival toward the people. No care. No reverence. Just vibes curated for influencer culture. You’ll catch glimpses of something real — an artist pouring their heart out on stage, a sudden moment of connection — but those moments are fleeting. They’re easily lost in the chaos, buried beneath the logistics, the brand activations, the overpriced everything.”
Related Video
Watts then turned to the amount of trash left behind at the festival, and why exiting Coachella can be particularly dismal. “And then there’s the waste — plastic, garbage, trash in the desert wind. Leaving is especially grim. You’re navigating dust storms, people hustling to buy your wristband, and a general sense that it was all a transaction, not a shared experience. If you’ve got asthma or care about your breathing, bring a mask. Seriously.”
Lastly, he concluded by championing independent festivals instead: “There are better ways to do this. There are independent festivals run by people who give a shit — about the music, the artists, the fans, the land. They treat performers with care and build environments where real community can take root. That’s where the magic is. That’s what’s wort supporting.” See Watt’s post below.
Watts raises some important questions about large, multi-genre festivals and their sense of community (or lack thereof), as well as their environmental impact. Last year, Consequence staffers discussed the changing festival landscape in a roundtable chat, and in 2023, we spoke with festival organizers large and small about what it would take to hypothetical build a carbon neutral festival.
Consequence was also on the grounds at Coachella this weekend, and while we can attest that the level of trash was particularly grim this year, there was plenty of positive spirit to go around. Read our recap of what you didn’t see on the livestream at Coachella 2025.
Meanwhile, Watts recently offered a new standup special and autobiography in 2024, and stopped by Kyle Meredith with… to discuss his new projects.
Content shared from consequence.net.