





Throughout the years they’ve become part of the fabric of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals as people search for clues and passwords online and then look for suspicious doors that seem out of place, long lines in unusual places or obscure signs as they try to find the festival’s various “hidden” bars and speakeasies.
The hunt returns this year with at least three new spots to look for, and there may be surprises that make the quest more challenging than ever.
“Just because something exists on Weekend 1 doesn’t mean it’s going to exist on Weekend 2. You might even find something new pop up on one of the weekends. I’m trying to keep the patrons on their toes this year,” said Adrian Garcia, the food and beverage director for Goldenvoice Festivals, who puts together the hidden joints.
The bars this year include Golden Hour, a Parisian-inspired speakeasy.
“It’ll be one of those experiences that take people away from Coachella for a minute and brings them into a different experience for a moment,” Garcia said. People can expect drinks like spritzes, wines and fancy cocktails.
Another planned bar is Mixteca, which Garcia said would be “an agave oasis” with a food component that will give people a clue to its location.
“Just keep an eye out for some delicious tacos,” he said.
The third spot is the Tiki Bar, which could be the hardest to find bar of them all.
“That’ll be a fun location. I always try to show people something they’ve never seen before on the ground, and the Tiki Bar will be one of those locations that people never got to access on-site before,” Garcia said.
While he’s not giving away exact locations, Garcia’s advice for the bar hunters is to do their homework and go online, especially on sites like Reddit where the bars are a hot topic.
“Everyone likes to find something that others haven’t seen. They like to be the first one to post something, to be the ones to show your friends something else you found,” he said.