Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Encore: The Real Cost of Coachella

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

Go-chella or no-chella? Nicole breaks down how much seeing the biggest names in music— and more importantly, posing in front of the Ferris wheel— really costs. Originally aired 4.2023

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a it's time for some money rehab. Picture a towering Ferris wheel in the middle of the desert, surrounded by giant palm trees and thousands of beautiful, beautiful people in extravagant outfits dancing in the sun. Welcome to Coachella, my friends, the mega music festival in Indio, Coachella, my friends, the mega music festival in Indio, California, where 250,000 fans flock every April to see the top musical artists in the world. Coachella spans not one, but two weekends every year, and its lineup boasts some of the biggest names in music. Beyonce, Prince, Harry

Styles, Kendrick Lamar, and Billie Eilish have all graced the stages of Coachella. Tupac even rose from the dead to perform at Coachella in 2012. Okay, so maybe it was just a super realistic hologram, but legendary and over the top nonetheless. Classic Coachella behavior. And not only is it tax season and financial literacy month, it is also Coachella season. This year, the festival starts on April 14th and has Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean headlining the festival, along with over 150 other A-listers and up-and-coming artists. It all sounds almost too good to be true. There must be a catch, Laban. Well, yes, there is. The price tag.

So what would a glorious glitter-covered Coachella experience cost you? Let's break it down. For attendees, festival passes range from $550 to $1,100 per weekend. Then you've got to rest your head somewhere, right? Well, you can't sleep easy at those prices. The average nightly rate for an Airbnb in Indio is $1,400. That's right, just for one night. Then you've got your travel expenses, with flights, shuttles, and Ubers or Lyfts tacking on hundreds of dollars to get you to and from the glamorous Palm Springs airport and back and forth between your lodgings and the festival grounds in Indio. Oh, and you're hungry?

How about a $17 corndog after 30 minutes of waiting in line? And that is not an odd hypothetical. That is a real-life experience from our EP and Chief Corndog Officer, Morgan Lavoie. All together, depending on where you're flying from, where you stay, and how many nights you attend, you're looking at over $2,100 out the window to get the coveted Coachella experience. But it is a pretty good deal if you're performing. Performers are paid anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. The Weeknd is

currently the highest paid artist to ever play Coachella, taking home $8.5 million for his headlining act. That must have been a hell of a weekend for The Weeknd. But not all performers have it so easy. According to a recent article in Variety, foreign musicians must comply with arduous and expensive administrative requirements from the U.S. government in order to perform on U.S. soil or sand, in the case of Coachella. This year, more than half of the artists are coming from abroad. So for lesser-known foreign acts, the festival might be a great way to reach big audiences, but likely won't be a financial walk in the park, with $5,000 to $10,000 in work permit fees plus a 30% foreign withholding tax that can only be

avoided by jumping through additional administrative hoops. The festival itself makes over $100 million, and the city of Indio reports over $200 million made in total by businesses benefiting from festival-goer foot traffic. So it's probably no surprise that the cancellation of Coachella in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic had devastating repercussions for local businesses that relied on the festival for its annual influx of consumers. But is Coachella simply a business-boosting miracle for the Palm Springs and Indio areas? Or are we looking at it through rose-colored, heart-shaped festival fashion glasses? Well, despite the economic boost from tourism, the financial story of Coachella isn't one-sided. And fun fact, I used to be an

investigative reporter on the I-team at the CBS station in Palm Springs, actually. So I covered this stuff 20 years ago, and it just keeps getting bigger. The rise of expensive vacation rentals in Coachella Valley has been pushing out year-round occupants who can't keep up with the skyrocketing costs of housing and daily life. Many of the area's properties are being bought by out-of-state investors for the sole purpose of renting them out to festival goers at exorbitant prices. This dynamic has resulted in a shortage of affordable housing for the area's workforce, of which 25% work in leisure and hospitality, and earn, on average, an annual income of less than $16,000, according to an article in the Coachella Valley Independent.

So, local businesses are faced with the challenge of hiring and retaining employees throughout the year because workers simply can't afford to live in Indio and Palm Springs anymore. While expensive vacation rentals continue to be bought and built, local community programs and organizers are also working hard to construct affordable housing for working-class residents. But is Coachella worth it? It obviously depends on who you ask. If you're going with a group of close friends who you know and love to travel with and hang well with, and five of your favorite bands of all time are performing, and you can truly, truly afford the crazy costs without a question, then you might end up having

the time of your life at Coachella. And if spending hundreds or very possibly thousands of dollars to wait in line to take your picture in front of a fabulous ferris wheel sounds like an idea of a very good time, then by all means, Gochella. If you're not sure whether it's the smartest financial decision for you right now, then it's probably… definitely… not. For today's tip you can take straight to the bank. If you decide to brave the desert heat and wallet whiplash of Coachella, BYOF, bring your own food. It might not sound very chic, but it will save you up to $100 a day. Plus, you won't have to waste precious dancing time on the cumulative hours you'd spend waiting in line for $11 slices of pizza. Money Rehab is a production of Money News

Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Levoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at Money News and TikTok at Money News Network for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.