People check out the Craft Beer Barn at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 12, 2014. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)
One of the things that has made the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival such a success is how the festival has morphed over the last 15 years. This year, permanent bathrooms and craft beer are among the changes.
A server pours in the Craft Beer Barn at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 12, 2014. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)
Craft Beer Barn: Hands down, the number one change for 2014 that people have been raving about is the Craft Beer Barn adjacent to the Yuma Tent. While Heineken still dominates the main beer gardens at the festival, dozens of craft brews are on tap in the Beer Barn, where a pour is $10, and size varies on the alcohol content of the beer. (For reference, a small Heineken goes for $7 and a large goes for $9.)
The structure is kind of barn-shaped, but open. You can hear the beats of the nearby new location of the Do Lab and the pulsing rhythms of the Yuma Tent, but it’s away from the main action.
“This is kind of the oasis,” said Vivek Hungund, of Los Angeles, enjoying a blonde beer while attending his first Coachella.
The craft beers feature breweries from around the country, including some from the Inland region. Wiens Brewing from Temecula and Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands both had offerings in the dozens of rotating beers.
“The fact that they’re changing it up every hour–you have to try everything,” Angel Soriano, of Menifee, said.
He also liked the food offerings exclusive to the beer barn, which included Tony’s Darts Away and Beer Belly, pop-up versions of restaurants from Burbank and Los Angeles, respectively.
Soriano was a fan of the strong Belgian ales on tap.
“I want to have a strong beer that also has a lot of flavor,” Soriano said.
Bathrooms: After all of that beer, well, you might need to find a facility. While Coachella does have decent portable restrooms (including a number of air-conditioned trailer-style ones), one of the biggest changes of 2014 is that there are finally real restrooms at the festival.
Unfortunately, it’s only for women this year, but there are dozens of stalls in a concrete structure across from the Beer Barn with real flushing toilets, sinks, hand dryers and the all-important items of toilet seat covers and toilet paper.
Also, they’re clean, we’re talking cleaner than Disneyland clean. The maintenance was top notch.