While Coachella continues to divide opinion online, one South African attendee says that the festival lives up to the hype, even after spending a thousand dollars.
Image: X/@coachella
While some regular Coachella attendees have been dragging the festival online or saying influencers have ruined the vibe, others are still out there living their absolute best desert lives.
They have dust in their shoes and Beyoncé level memories in their camera roll.
A South African content creator has joined the conversation after attending the iconic music festival, and she is not shy about how worth it the experience felt. In a TikTok video, Teegan Thomas summed it up in one line that basically sets the tone for anyone still debating the hype.
“Hands down, it was worth every single cent,” she said.
Now let’s talk numbers because this is where things get very real for anyone watching from Mzansi with side eye and calculator open. Thomas explained that her ticket was not even a direct purchase. It was a resale.
“The ticket I bought was a resale. The original went out for 6 dollars, the resale I got was 800 dollars,” she said.
For context, that is roughly around R14,800 if you convert it at an estimated rate of about R18,50 to the dollar.
And that is just the entry pass. No flights. No accommodation. No “let me just grab a snack” money.
And still sis is not regretting it.
“Yes, it is a lot of money for the average person down here in South of Mzansi, but the amount of artists you are seeing makes up for that hands down,” she added.
She described a festival where you are not just paying to see one big name. You are basically getting a full weekend buffet of global stars.
“You are there for three days, and you see top top artists. For example, Justin Bieber performed for two hours. All of the headliners performed for two hours,” she said.
The flexibility also helps. “You also choose who you want to go and see,” she added, although she did admit the struggle is real when schedules overlap. One minute you are ready for Disclosure, and the next you are wondering what Swae Lee is doing on the other side of the field.
Then there are the surprise moments. “Special artists or guests they bring, like Jennifer Lopez, to David Guetta’s performance. We saw Snoop Dogg. It is just 100 percent worth it,” she said.
But let us not pretend this is a casual holiday. A rough breakdown for South Africans paints a different picture. Flights from Johannesburg or Cape Town to Los Angeles can easily sit between R18,000 and R25,000 return.
Accommodation for a few nights near Indio or LA can range from R3000 a night and up, which quickly pushes another R12,000 or more into the mix.
Add transport, food and festival extras, and you are looking at roughly R45,000 to R60,000 minimum for the full experience.