Coachella Organizers Address Complaints of 12-Hour Delays at Festival’s Opening Weekend (2025)

Watch:

Coachella Organizers Address Complaints of 12-Hour Delays at Festival’s Opening Weekend

Coachella’s recent return to the desert didn’t go exactly as planned.

In fact, it was a crowded jam. After attendeesof the festival’s first weekend—which featured performerslike Lady Gaga,Megan Thee Stallion and Charli XCX—voiced their frustration aboutwaiting in hours-long traffic while making their way to the California venue, the event’s organizerGoldenvoiceis providing answers for the mishap.

“Every year, we typically have a lull between one o’clock and six o’clock in the evening where it just dies down,”the company’s senior vice president of public safety, George Cunningham, explained during a La Quinta City Council meeting on April 15. “We didn’t have that [this year.]”

The traffic chaos started in the early hours of April 11, which is also the weekend-long festival’s first day. At the time, many campersdetailed their long delay trying to reach the Empire Polo Club—the venue that hosts Coachella—on social media. Specifically, a TikTok user namedLissshared that she and her friends had been waiting in their car for “nearly 10 hours” after showing up at the camping ground at 3 a.m.in the hopes ofbeating the rush.

photosBest Celebrity Style Moments in Coachella History

She also highlighted how the issue went beyond her long stay in the car.

“It’s almost 1 p.m. and we haven’t even gotten through security,” Liss said in the April 10 video, visibly upset. “It’s 100 degrees outside. People’s cars are overheating, they’re running out of gas, [and] there are no bathrooms for us to use. This whole experience has been so disappointing, and it’s been extremely dehumanizing.”

@notliss
It’s giving Fyre Fest… & yes i look terrible bc ive been up for 30+ hours 🫠 #coachella2025 #coachellacamping #coachella
♬ original sound - liss

As for the long delay, Cunninghamexplainedthe traffic was partially caused by attendees arriving at Coachella too “early.” Hefurtherrevealed their team was understaffed that day, leading them to “close down six” of their 32 tolls for cars to pass through.

However,Goldenvoice—who hasbeen organizing the iconic festival since its debut in 1999—has laid out plans to resolve the traffic issue for WeekendTwo, whichruns fromApril 18to April 20. Cunninghamtold the city council there will be 12 new toll plazas added near Coachella’s various parking areasto help traffic flow faster.

And with this addition, they’re focused on keeping all 44 tolls open throughout the weekend. Cunningham reassured, “We already have a secondary plan in place to be able to augment that and have that staffed with other individuals.”

Despite the roughentrance, the festival brought out a whole lot of stars. Keep reading to see all the celebrities who attended and performed at Coachella…

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella

BFA.com

Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images for Neon Carnival