Arts
Coachella Walls
Coachella · Free
Greater Palm SpringsAgriculture, Mexican food, Pueblo Viejo district, proximity to festival grounds.
Coachella, California
Farm town with the valley's best Mexican food
Coachella is the city that lent its name to the festival held next door in Indio, and it is a very different place from the one visitors imagine: a predominantly Latino farming city of about 42,000 at the eastern end of the valley, with a mural-covered historic core, some of the best and cheapest food in the region, and almost no tourism infrastructure.
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Pueblo Viejo
The city's old downtown has been steadily transformed by a public mural program. Dozens of large-scale works by local and visiting artists cover the walls along Sixth Street and the surrounding blocks, celebrating farmworker history, Purepecha and Mexican heritage, and the valley's agricultural life. It is free, walkable in an hour, and consistently the most interesting street art in the Coachella Valley.
Eating
Coachella eats extremely well for very little money. Taquerias, mariscos counters, birria stands, panaderias and paleterias are concentrated in and around Pueblo Viejo. Weekend mornings bring menudo and pan dulce; evenings bring the taco trucks.
Farms and fields
The city is ringed by date groves, citrus, table grapes and vegetable fields. Roadside stands operate through harvest seasons, and the agricultural landscape here - palms in ordered rows against bare mountains - is one of the most photographed parts of the valley.
Practicalities
There are few hotels in the city itself; most visitors stay in Indio or La Quinta, both under fifteen minutes away, and drive in to eat.
Things to do
Sights and activities in Coachella
Neighborhoods
Where to base yourself in Coachella
- Pueblo Viejo, Coachella
- Coachella's historic downtown: murals, taquerias, the mercado and the city's weekend street life.
- Avenue 50 Corridor, Coachella
- The newer north side of Coachella near the festival grounds, parks and hotel cluster.
Guides
Coachella guides
Events email
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