Banana man at Coachella. (Nikie Johnson/Staff Photo)
The Banana King is back.
Yep, a 6-foot-something man dressed as a giant banana.
It’s hard not to stop and take a picture. In the five or so minutes he and I chatted, about five groups of people stopped to have photos snapped with him.
But you don’t dress up as the Banana King if you don’t want the attention.
The suit is homemade. The man inside is Mike Jones, 22, of Toluca Lake. The motivation is simple.
The first year he came, he looked around and thought, “this is amazing, but it’s missing something: leadership.”
And apparently for Jones, leadership takes the form of a banana. It’s a more approachable costume than something like a gorilla, or another kind of produce. People love people dressed as bananas. Seriously.
It’s not too hot, he reassured me. The full-body black jumpsuit underneath is made of very breathable material. In fact, last year when the weather was much cooler the first weekend of Coachella, he was sort of cold.
But today it’s been good. He’s just enjoying the music and the people, and letting anyone who wants take a picture with the Banana King.