Stagecoach 2023: Nothing but a good time to camp at the fest
It’s nothing but a good time to camp in your RV at the Stagecoach country music festival.
It’s like college game day for an entire long weekend: three days of good vibes, better BBQ and ice cold beer. The only downer is the wicked heat. But even that can be conquered with a brewski, a well-timed water and a dip in one of the many, many inflatable pools set up basically everywhere.
For some, Stagecoach is mostly about the music. For others, RV camping takes the cake.
After all, why burn in the sun and pay $15 dollars for a light beer inside the festival grounds when you can chill in "The Resort" just outside, seated in a lawn chair dunked in a shaded kiddie pool while throwing back budget-friendly 30 racks with your besties?
“Honestly, the best part of Stagecoach is just hanging out with this great group of people,” said Gio Ortiz of Ranchita. “I got my best buddies here. I can’t ask for more.”
Sure, most of the Desert Sun's festival coverage focuses on the music on stage, just like most of college football coverage focuses on what happens on the gridiron.
In either case, there’s something to be said about a good ol’ tailgating story.
So, Desert Sun photojournalist Andy Abeyta and I spent a chunk of Saturday afternoon meandering through the RV campground taking in the colorful sights and sounds and chatting up festival veterans and first-timers alike about their experience in Indio.
As we walked around, one thing became amazingly clear: Truly, the Stagecoach hospitality is second to none.
Everyone wanted to show off their tailgating set-ups, share festival tips and make sure Andy and I stayed well hydrated as we walked through the heat of the day and as Andy schlepped a load of heavy camera gear.
Some of our favorite and most outrageous sights:
A pool large enough to comfortably fit two dozen people.
String lanterns made of carved-out seltzer cans (“My dad had to blackout in order to be able to make this,” joked Lyndsie Palmer of Rancho Cucamonga.)
Three variations of the tailgating game flip cup, including one where players “surf” on tables through the makeshift campground streets.
A cooler with a plastic bull head that doubles as an ice chest and a way to practice roping. (Andy even took a turn showing off his roping chops, successfully lassoing the bullhorn on his second toss — must be muscle memory from the time he spent in the Midwest before moving to the desert.)
People dashing behind the water tankers meant to keep the dust down just to try to stay cool.
An oversized lawn chair for Mary Dunton, the matriarch of the self-proclaimed "Go-Go Clan," a group of family and friends from Huntington Beach that has been coming to Stagecoach for years.
Words of wisdom from Stagecoach veterans
In addition to observing the party, Andy and I also talked with some festivalgoers who journey to Stagecoach practically every single year. We met folk who have come so many times since the festival began in 2007 that they weren't quite sure whether 2023 was their eighth or ninth rodeo.
For Brian Decker of Huntington Beach, this weekend was indeed his 14th Stagecoach.
His best tip: "You gotta have a pool."
If you're at Stagecoach next year, you won't miss Decker's campsite. It's decked out with banners from previous Stagecoach lineups and an amazing array of Celtic flags.
We also met with Brett Saunders of Thousand Oaks.
His tip, to paraphrase Luke Bryan: "You can't buy happiness, but $2,300 can keep you cool for the weekend.” (Water tankers in the camping area charge $1 per gallon to fill up an inflatable pool, and, apparently, Saunders was refilling his with clean water quite often. He also had a $1,200 swathe of artificial turf covering his campsite to keep it clean and green. "Thank you, Coachella for killing the grass. It cost me $1,200," he said.)
And, yes, Stagecoach is mostly fun and games. But the real die-hard country music fans hustle. They recommend getting to the festival grounds as soon as the gates open in the early afternoon to stake out a great site to see the headliner later in the night.
"Bring bikes and ride to the festival gates at noon to set up your chairs at the Mane Stage," said 30-year-old Ben Duncan of Corona, who's been coming to Stagecoach since his sophomore year of high school. "Listen to the emerging artists, then head back to the RV to chill in the pool."
Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach 2023: Nothing but a good time to camp at the fest
