Coachella Music Fest Guide: Weekend 2 Schedule, Performers, Traffic

INDIO, CA — Thousands of people are making their way again to Indio's Empire Polo Club for the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. Traffic was jammed in the area on Interstate 10 Friday afternoon and is expected to be just as messy throughout the weekend and into Monday as concert-goers depart.

Performances began Friday afternoon and will continue into late Sunday. Here is the lineup:

Here are some tips for those who will be part of the masses — or among those who want to avoid the throngs:

Festival Dates, Times:

The polo club gates will open at noon each day of the festival. The event kicked off April 15-17 and concludes April 22-24.

Noise from the festival site could begin on Thursday due to sound checks and on-site camping guests. For concert logistics questions or problems, call 760-391-4112 or email concertinfo@indio.org

Road Closures:

Friday through Monday, the following roads will be closed:

• Avenue 49 between Hjorth and Monroe streets;
• Avenue 50 between Madison and Jackson streets;
• Hjorth Street between Avenues 49 and 50;
• Madison Street between Avenues 49 and 52.

In addition, Avenue 50 between Madison and Monroe streets will experience intermittent closures and delays before the festival. Full closures will occur during the festival.

During the festival, locals should expect significant delays on the following roadways, which will be the primary access routes for the events:

• Jefferson Street, southbound, from I-10 to Avenue 52;
• Washington Street, southbound, from I-10 to Avenue 52;
• Monroe Street, southbound, from I-10 to Avenue 52;
• Avenue 48 between Jefferson and Jackson streets;
• Highway 111 at Jefferson Street;
• Highway 111 at Monroe Street;
• I-10 exit eastbound at Jefferson;
• I-10 exit eastbound at Monroe;
• I-10 exit eastbound at Washington.

On Monday, streets surrounding the festival site and Interstate 10 will be busy with more than 40,000 campers leaving the area. Alternate routes for north and south travel include Washington Street, Jackson Street, Calhoun Street and Golf Center Parkway.

For east and west travel, Highway 111, Fred Waring Drive, Miles Avenue, Dr. Carreon Boulevard and Avenue 54 can be used.

The festival ride-share location will be at Avenue 49 and Monroe Street on the southwest corner, while the friends and family or taxi drop-off and pick-up location will be at Avenue 52 and Madison Street on the northeast corner.

No pedestrian or pedestrian festival access will be allowed on Monroe Street between Avenues 49 and 52 and on Madison Street between Avenues 50 and 52.

Pedestrian access will be available at Avenue 49 and Monroe Street, Avenue 52 and Madison Street and Avenue 52 and Monroe Street, though golf carts are not permitted on any of those streets.

About 40,000 guests will be shuttled into and out of the concert venue from various locations throughout the Coachella Valley to help ease traffic conditions.

Palm Springs International Airport:

Palm Springs International Airport announced an option last week designed to ease airport lines as thousands of festival-goers flock to the Coachella Valley.

The CLEAR Expedited Security Lane was added to the airport's Transportation Security Administration checkpoint on April 14, allowing travelers with CLEAR membership to verify their identity with their eyes, eliminating the need to produce identification. After the eye-verification, members will be escorted by a CLEAR ambassador through a dedicated lane to the TSA checkpoint.

Interim Executive Director of Aviation Harry Barrett acknowledged that tourist season is on the horizon, coinciding with the Coachella music festivals. While the growth has added more travel options for our community, we've also had to get to work to improve our facilities due to the increased passenger demand, he said.

Barrett also said that airport officials plan to make more improvements over the summer such as replacing carpeting and adding common-use technology systems at all gates. Improvements scheduled for fall include installing new restrooms renovating and renovating existing ones.

"Our facility wasn't designed to handle the level of passengers we have today ... so we're working with our partners now to make improvements where we can ahead of next season," Barrett said.

—City News Service contributed to this report