Coachella attracts way more air travelers than other music festivals: study

INDIO, CA - APRIL 13: Art installation Spectra by NEWSUBSTANCE is seen during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella)

The Coachella Music and Arts Festival is the biggest fest in the world and, while this probably won’t surprise you, a new study shows that more people fly out for it from across the country than they do fo other US festivals like South by Southwest and the Ultra Music Festival.

Coachella will attract 46 percent more travelers by air than South by Southwest and 89 percent more than Ultra Music Festival this year, according to Allianz Global Assistance, a travel insurance and assistance company. Allianz Global Assistance analyzed customer trips to determine which festivals attracted the most travelers, and from which cities they are traveling by air (and as we know, many, many people come by car to Coachella).

INDIO, CA – APRIL 14: Festivalgoers attend week 1, day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella )

They also broke down where people are flying in from – and it is primarily east coast cities with New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Boston ranking in the top five cities (along with Chicago):

  1. New York: 13.1 % of air travelers
  2. Chicago: 8.3 %
  3. Washington D.C.: 6.8 %
  4. Philadelphia: 6.5 %
  5. Boston: 5.6 %
  6. Miami: 4.8 %
  7. Dallas: 4.5 %
  8. Austin: 2.4 %
  9. Atlanta: 2.2 %
  10. San Francisco: 2.1 %

The study even looked at the two weekends of Coachella and found not much of a difference for those flying in for Weekend One (12.1 percent of festival air travelers) verses Weekend Two (12 percent).

And while it’s no surprise that Coachella attracts a ton of people.  It is interesting to see how they get to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.