It’s Giving Weekend 1: My First Coachella Music Festival

Well, what happened at Coachella certainly didn’t stay at Coachella. I attended my inaugural Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last weekend and experienced the welcomed return of festival culture first-hand.  The truth is, I never imagined myself on the grounds of the Empire Polo Club. Maybe it was the camping that turned me off. Or the Indio dust storms, so thick that they obscured the surrounding mountains and are still giving me respiratory issues. (“It’s not Covid! Just Coachella.”) Or maybe it was the social media game — attendees competing to prove who had the best outfits, the coolest friends and the most fun. But there are no winners in the Valley. Everyone leaves tired and dirty. Especially if Revolve has any say in it… Nevertheless, the 2022 lineup was stacked (Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Megan Thee Stallion…) and my friends from college wanted to go. At the very least, it would be a weekend in Palm Springs and the chance to hear live music again. Plus, maybe I’d see Vanessa Hudgens, the queen of the desert herself, strut her dusty catwalk IRL.  Please note: I did not, nor will I ever, camp.  Apparently, there is, in...