Your Coachella packing list for 2026 is the single most important document between you and three days of desert perfection — or three days of sunburned, dehydrated regret. Coachella runs April 10 through 12 and April 17 through 19 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, and both weekends are sold out. If you have a ticket, congratulations — now the work starts. The desert does not care about your aesthetic if you show up unprepared, and what you bring to Coachella determines whether you spend Sunday dancing at the front of the Quasar stage or sitting under a palm tree rationing the last warm sip from a water bottle you should have replaced six hours ago.
This is not a recycled camping checklist with a festival label slapped on it. This is what to bring to Coachella based on real experience — the kind you earn by making every possible mistake across multiple years in that specific desert, at that specific festival, under that specific sun. Whether this is your first Coachella or your eighth, the fundamentals do not change: pack with intention, prepare for extremes, and leave room for the unexpected. Here is every essential, organized by category, so nothing gets left behind.
Outfits: Three Days, Three Looks, Zero Compromises
Coachella is a fashion event as much as a music festival, and your outfits deserve the same planning energy as your set schedule. The move is one complete look per day — top, bottom, shoes, accessories — planned before you leave home and photographed laid out on your bed so there is zero guesswork when you are getting ready at 7 AM in a tent or a cramped Airbnb bathroom. Three days means three looks minimum, plus one universal backup that works if something gets damaged, dirty, or just does not feel right once you are there.
The desert dictates the rules. Temperatures push past 100 degrees during the day and drop to 55 or 60 at night, which means layering is not optional — it is the strategy that separates people who dance until close from people who retreat to camp shivering at 10 PM. Lightweight, breathable fabrics for daytime. A hoodie, light jacket, or long-sleeve layer you can tie around your waist or stash in your bag for after sundown. Plan your outfits around this temperature swing or the desert will plan your schedule for you.
For specific outfit inspiration mapped to each day's lineup and vibe, the Coachella outfit guide by day breaks down exactly what works from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. Build your packing list around those looks and you eliminate the single biggest source of festival stress: standing in front of a suitcase at noon wondering what to wear while the music is already playing.
Outfit Packing Checklist
- Three complete outfits — top, bottom, and accessories per day
- One backup outfit that pairs with any of your planned looks
- Lightweight jacket, hoodie, or flannel for nighttime temperatures
- Pashmina, rave scarf, or wrap that doubles as warmth and style
- Swimsuit if your accommodation has a pool (most do)
- Comfortable pajamas or sleep clothes for camp or hotel
Footwear: The Make-or-Break Decision
This is where more Coachella weekends fall apart than any other category on this list. Your feet carry you across grass, dirt, gravel, and pavement for upward of 25,000 steps per day across terrain that shifts from soft polo field grass to hard-packed desert ground. The wrong shoes turn day two into an exercise in pain management instead of music discovery.
The rule is absolute: do not bring shoes you have not already worn for a full day. New shoes at Coachella are a guaranteed blister situation, and blisters on Friday afternoon will haunt you through Sunday's closing set. Break in your festival shoes at least two weeks before the event — wear them around the house, to the store, on walks. They need to be molded to your feet before they hit Indio soil.
Closed-toe shoes or sturdy sneakers with real cushioning are the safest choice. The ground at the Empire Polo Club is uneven, dusty, and covered in whatever the crowd drops. Sandals look great but offer zero protection from stomped toes and ground debris. If you choose style over function here, at least bring a comfortable backup pair. Your evening outfit can accommodate different shoes than your daytime look, so pack two pairs minimum.
Footwear Checklist
- Broken-in sneakers or boots with cushioned insoles — your primary festival shoes
- Second pair of comfortable shoes for outfit variety or backup
- Sandals or slides for camp, hotel, or pool time only
- Moleskin and blister pads — pack them even if your shoes are broken in
- Extra insoles if your shoes need additional arch support
Sun Protection: The Desert Is Not Playing
The Coachella Valley in April is not gentle. You are standing in direct sun on an open polo field with minimal shade structures, surrounded by reflective surfaces and pale desert ground that bounces UV back up at you. Sunburn at Coachella is not a minor inconvenience — it is a compounding problem that gets worse each day and can turn the best lineup in festival history into an endurance test you cannot wait to end.
SPF 50 sunscreen is the baseline. Apply it before you leave your camp or hotel and reapply every two hours without exception. Sport or water-resistant formulas hold up better against sweat. Bring more sunscreen than you think you need — a full weekend requires at least two bottles if you are reapplying properly, and your crew will inevitably ask to borrow some.
A wide-brim hat or bucket hat protects your scalp and face, which are the first areas to burn and the hardest to recover from. Sunglasses with UV protection are non-negotiable for both sun defense and the wind-blown dust that sweeps across the polo fields every afternoon. A rave bandana or rave scarf pulled up over your nose and mouth handles dust storms and adds sun coverage to your neck and lower face — it is one of those items that first-timers skip and veterans never leave without.
Sun Protection Checklist
- SPF 50+ sunscreen — at least two bottles for the weekend
- SPF lip balm — the item everyone forgets and everyone needs
- Wide-brim hat or bucket hat
- UV-protection sunglasses — bring a backup pair
- Bandana or scarf for dust and additional sun coverage
- Aloe vera gel for after-sun recovery at camp
Hydration: The Non-Negotiable Category
A hydration pack is the single most important item you will bring to Coachella. Not your outfit, not your phone, not your ticket — your water supply. Dehydration in 100-degree desert heat happens faster than you expect, and the symptoms — headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue — mimic the exact feelings you will blame on everything except the actual cause. A CamelBak or hydration backpack holds two to three liters of water, keeps your hands free, and means you are never more than a shoulder-strap reach from hydration instead of waiting in a 15-minute refill station line.
Most festivals, Coachella included, allow empty hydration packs through security. Fill up at the water refill stations inside the venue immediately upon entry and keep sipping consistently throughout the day — not just when you feel thirsty. By the time you feel thirst in the desert, you are already behind on fluids.
Electrolyte packets are the secret weapon that experienced festival-goers swear by. Water alone does not replace the sodium, potassium, and magnesium you lose through sweat over eight-plus hours in the sun. Brands like Liquid IV, LMNT, and Nuun make single-serve packets you can dump into your hydration pack or a water bottle. Bring enough for two to three packets per day across your full weekend.
Hydration Checklist
- CamelBak or hydration backpack (2-3 liter capacity)
- Electrolyte packets — at least 6-9 for the weekend
- Collapsible water bottle as a backup
- Coconut water or sports drinks for your cooler at camp
Tech and Essentials: Stay Connected, Stay Charged
Your phone is your camera, your map, your schedule, your group chat, your rideshare app, and your emergency lifeline. When it dies in the middle of a sold-out festival with 125,000 people and no re-entry for GA ticket holders, you are navigating the rest of your day blind. A portable charger is not a luxury item — it is infrastructure.
Bring a power bank rated at least 10,000 mAh, which gives you roughly two full phone charges. If you are a heavy camera user or streaming sets to your story, step up to 20,000 mAh. Charge the power bank fully the night before each day and keep it in your bag with a short cable. A phone lanyard or crossbody phone case keeps your device accessible and secure in dense crowds without the constant pocket-check anxiety that drains your mental energy as much as the sun drains your physical energy.
Small earbuds or headphones are worth the bag space for shuttle rides, the walk to and from the venue, and any downtime between sets. A portable fan — the handheld rechargeable kind — sounds excessive until you are standing in a packed crowd at 2 PM with no breeze and no shade. It becomes the most popular item in your group within the first hour.
Tech Checklist
- Portable charger — 10,000 mAh minimum, 20,000 mAh preferred
- Charging cable (short, 1-foot cable is easier to manage in a bag)
- Phone lanyard or crossbody phone case
- Earbuds for shuttle rides and downtime
- Portable handheld fan — rechargeable
- Small flashlight or headlamp for navigating camp at night
Camping Gear: Your Home Base for the Weekend
If you are car camping or tent camping at Coachella, your campsite is your sanctuary — and how well you set it up on day one determines your quality of life for every hour that follows. The desert campground experience is incredible when you prepare for it and genuinely miserable when you do not. There is no middle ground.
Your tent is your most critical piece of gear, and it needs to handle two realities: scorching morning heat that turns an unshaded tent into a greenhouse by 7 AM, and cool nighttime temperatures that make a sleeping bag necessary. Set up a shade structure — a pop-up canopy or EZ-Up — over your tent and hang-out area immediately upon arrival. This is the single best quality-of-life upgrade for camping at Coachella. Stake everything down securely. The desert wind is real, and unsecured canopies become airborne hazards.
An air mattress or thick sleeping pad is the difference between waking up rested and waking up wrecked. The ground is hard, uneven, and cold at night. Pair it with a sleeping bag rated for at least 40 degrees and a blanket for extra warmth during the early morning hours. A battery-powered fan inside the tent extends your sleeping window by at least an hour before the morning heat forces you out.
A well-stocked cooler saves money and keeps you fed on your schedule instead of the festival's. Pre-made sandwiches, fruit, protein bars, and plenty of water and sports drinks eliminate the need to spend $18 on festival food three times a day. Refill ice daily — the desert heat burns through it fast.
Camping Checklist
- Tent — practiced setup at home before the festival
- Pop-up canopy or shade structure with stakes and guy lines
- Air mattress or thick sleeping pad with pump
- Sleeping bag (rated to 40 degrees) and extra blanket
- Battery-powered fan for the tent
- Cooler with ice, pre-made food, snacks, and drinks
- Camp chairs — at least one per person
- LED string lights for camp visibility at night
- Trash bags — leave your site cleaner than you found it
- Wet wipes, dry shampoo, and a microfiber towel
- Baby powder for anti-chafe — the desert's silent destroyer
- Duct tape and zip ties for emergency repairs
Health, Safety, and Personal Care
High-fidelity earplugs are a non-negotiable addition to your Coachella essentials. Not the foam drugstore kind that muffle everything into an indistinct wall of sound — actual musician-grade earplugs from brands like Eargasm, Loop, or Etymotic that reduce volume evenly across frequencies while preserving the clarity and detail of the music. Festival sound systems operate well above safe exposure levels, and three consecutive days at that volume without protection causes measurable, permanent hearing damage. Protect your hearing so you can keep enjoying music for the rest of your life. This is the one item on this list where the stakes are irreversible.
A basic first aid kit handles the minor issues that come up over any multi-day outdoor event. Band-aids and blister pads cover the foot situations. Ibuprofen handles headaches and general soreness from dancing on hard ground for three days. Antacids deal with the inevitable consequences of festival food. Antihistamines are worth including for dust and pollen allergies that the desert wind kicks up every afternoon. If you take any prescription medications, bring them in their original containers along with more than you technically need — losing a day's dose at a festival is stressful, and having extras eliminates that concern.
Hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and tissue packets are the hygiene trifecta that keeps you comfortable when the portable restroom situation is what it always is at a festival with six figures of attendance. Travel-size deodorant, dry shampoo, and face wipes in your day bag keep you feeling human through the afternoon heat. A small thing, but it matters more each day of the weekend.
Health and Safety Checklist
- High-fidelity earplugs — musician-grade, volume-reducing
- Sunscreen and SPF lip balm (listed above, mentioning again because it matters that much)
- Band-aids, blister pads, and moleskin
- Ibuprofen or preferred pain reliever
- Antacids
- Antihistamines for dust and pollen
- Any prescription medications in original containers
- Hand sanitizer — travel size for your bag
- Wet wipes and tissue packets
- Travel deodorant, dry shampoo, face wipes
- Hair ties and bobby pins
What NOT to Bring to Coachella
Knowing what to leave behind is as important as knowing what to pack. Coachella has a detailed prohibited items list, and getting something confiscated at the gate is a frustrating way to start your weekend. Beyond the official rules, there are items that technically are allowed but will make your experience worse by taking up space, creating hassle, or simply not surviving the desert environment.
- Professional cameras and detachable lenses — Coachella prohibits professional photography equipment. Your phone camera is more than sufficient, lighter, and will not get confiscated at security.
- Drones — Banned. Do not bring one. Do not try.
- Glass containers — Prohibited in both the festival and the campground. Transfer everything to plastic before you arrive.
- Outside food and beverages into the festival grounds — Allowed in the campground but not inside the festival gates. Empty hydration packs are fine; sealed outside drinks are not.
- Anything you cannot afford to lose or damage — Expensive jewelry, irreplaceable items, and anything that cannot handle dust, sweat, and crowd density should stay home.
- New, unbroken-in shoes — This deserves its own line on the "do not bring" list. If they are not already comfortable after a full day of wear, they are not Coachella-ready.
- Oversized bags and large backpacks — Coachella enforces bag size limits. Check the current policy on the official site before packing your day bag.
- Negative energy — Not a physical item, but worth stating. The crowd at Coachella is one of the most diverse and welcoming in festival culture. Match that energy.
First-Timer vs. Veteran: Know the Difference
If this is your first Coachella, the single best piece of advice is this: you will not see everything, and that is fine. The lineup is enormous, the grounds are sprawling, and the sensory input is relentless. First-timers who try to sprint between every must-see set burn out by Saturday afternoon. Pick your priorities for each day, leave gaps in your schedule for discovery and rest, and accept that some of the best Coachella moments happen when you are not following a plan at all — a random set you wander into, a conversation with a stranger at a water station, the moment you look up and realize the sunset over the polo fields is the most beautiful thing you have seen all year.
Veterans know that comfort compounds. Every small preparation decision — the right shoes, the pre-applied sunscreen, the full hydration pack, the layering piece stashed in the bag — adds up across three days into the difference between a weekend you remember fondly and a weekend you survive. If you have done this before, your packing list should be getting shorter and more precise each year, not longer. You know what you actually use and what sits untouched at the bottom of your bag. Edit ruthlessly.
Both groups benefit from coordinating with their crew ahead of time. Share a packing list so communal items — shade structures, coolers, speakers for camp, first aid kits — get split across the group instead of duplicated. Agree on a meeting point inside the venue for when phones die or service drops, because it will happen. And set realistic expectations for the group schedule. Not everyone needs to be at the same stage at the same time for the entire weekend. Split up, explore independently, and regroup for the sets that matter to everyone.
The Accessories That Pull Everything Together
The right rave accessories serve double duty at Coachella — they elevate your outfit and solve practical problems simultaneously. A scarf from the FRW scarf collection is a fashion piece during golden hour and a dust shield when the wind picks up. A bandana is a style statement at the Quasar stage and sun protection during the afternoon walk between stages. The best festival accessories are the ones you forget are functional because they look that good.
Pack accessories that are modular and lightweight. Two or three interchangeable pieces — scarves, bandanas, chains, arm sleeves — give you enough variety to make each day's outfit feel distinct without overpacking. Swap your daytime sunglasses for a tinted or clear pair at night to shift your look with zero effort. Small changes compound into looks that feel completely different from day to day, which is the whole point of planning three days of Coachella outfits.
Accessories Checklist
- Scarves or wraps — style, warmth, and dust protection in one
- Bandanas — the most versatile item in your bag
- Multiple pairs of sunglasses — day pair and night pair
- Small crossbody bag or fanny pack with zipper compartments
- Cash in small bills — some vendors are cash-only
- Copy of your ID separate from your wallet
Lock It In
Both weekends of Coachella 2026 are sold out. If you are holding a ticket, you are holding access to one of the most anticipated festival weekends in recent memory — the Coachella lineup breakdown confirms that the music alone justifies every hour of preparation. But the music is only as good as your ability to be present for it, and that ability is built entirely on the decisions you make before you arrive in Indio.
Use this list. Check every category. Pack early enough to realize what you are missing and fix it before you are two hours into the drive with no options. For a broader festival checklist that applies across the full 2026 season, the general festival packing list covers everything beyond Coachella-specific needs. And when you are ready to finalize the fits — the part of packing that actually gets you excited — browse the full Coachella outfits collection to find pieces built for exactly this weekend, in exactly this desert, under exactly these lights. Three days in the Coachella Valley with the right preparation is an experience that stays with you long after the dust settles. Pack accordingly.
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