Camping Out: Where to Buy Affordable Tents for Coachella, Stagecoach & Other Music Festivals

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Each year, approximately 250,000 music fans trek to the Coachella Valley Music Festival, and a number of this year’s attendees will be camping out.

If you plan on camping at Coachella or Stagecoach, but haven’t gotten a tent yet, there’s still time to purchase camping essentials before the big festival weekend kicks off. Weekend two of Coachella will be held from Friday, April 21 until Sunday, April 22.

To help you get prepared, we searched online to find three, bestselling tents from Amazon, Walmart and REI.

See more below.

If you’re looking for a cheaper option that’s easy to put together, Amazon has a large variety of tents and camping gear. This water resistant, two-person tent has a floor surface of 30 sq. feat, and measures 77 inches x 57 inches). The tent can be used for camping, hiking, fishing, festivals and other outdoor activities. And it weighs just 2.75 pounds when folded up, making it easy to carry around on a hiking trip or hiking through Coachella.

Wakeman Outdoor Tents are available in blue, orange, green, pink, red and yellow.

The Ozark Trail Tent is designed for up to three people, and it’s large enough to fit a queen-sized air mattress, according to the product description. The tent boasts an oval shape for added headroom, built in storage pockets and a mesh roof to keep the air flowing, and for star gazing at night.

There’s also a mud mat at the entry, which you’ll probably need for Coachella (it gets muddy at times) and a removable rainfly tarp in the front. The 71 x 71-inch tent weighs 5.64 pounds.

The Zempire Trilogy Tent holds up to four people and it’s easy to set up, thanks to the two-pole “quick-clip” design, which basically means it won’t take too many steps to get it up. Based on the customer reviews though, shoppers are split between the tent being easy to set up and challenging to put together. This tent is on sale at REI.

If you’re interested in a cheaper option, the Alpine Mountain Gear Weekender Tent is on sale for $65. See more tents on sale at REI here.

Coachella Camping Rules: What You Need to Know

Coachella offers tent camping, car camping and preferred car camping. Car camping appears to be the most popular among the three, and one of the most affordable options, since you’re basically paying for the parking space.

For car camping, Coachella allows trucks and passenger vans, but no RVs, trailers, buses, or motorcycles. There’s no restriction on the number of people and tents allowed, however, only one vehicle is allowed in each camping site.

Basic car camping is first-come-first-serve, but preferred car camping is located at Lot 8 and you can arrive “at your leisure,” per Coachella.

Coachella’s car camping sites measure 30 x 10 feet, tent camping sites are 15 x 10 feet.

For preferred camping, you can choose between a two-person lodge, or four-person tent. The 8 x 12 x 8-foot lodge includes two GA or VIP passes to the music festival. The four-person tent measures 12 x 14, and it’s fully pitched, so need to worry about putting it together. It also comes with four sleeping cots, sleeping bags, pillows, chairs and a cooler.

Coachella covers camping essentials like sleeping bags and pillows for VIP campers. There’s also a 24-hour concierge, overnight parking, exclusive bathrooms and showers, cell phone charging stations and Wifi in select areas.

Camping passes start at $149 at Coachella.com, but you can also find them at Vivid Seats, and you might be able to score last-minute tickets at StubHub, although they were sold out at press time.

For more items to add to your Coachella pack list, read our recommendations for best footwear for festival season and a roundup of festival essentials to bring along.

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