As SMCHS students can attest to, Stagecoach is the festival event of the year. Many students make the drive out to the Palm Springs Desert for a weekend to hang out with friends and create music festival memories to last a lifetime.

Different from Coachella, Stagecoach is an outdoor festival held at the Empire Polo fields in Indio. The country and folk-fest has been presented, by the Goldenvoice Production Company since 2007 and each year features a range of voices from huge stars like Luke Bryan, to up and coming singers in the industry like Luke Combs and CAM.

The weekend is always filled with food, fun and, of course, music. Stagecoach had its ten year anniversary event at the usual venue featuring Dierks Bentley, and country legends Shania Twain and Kenney Chesney headlining. Other notable performance

s came from Thomas Rhett, Willie Nelson and new-comer Jon Pardi. The artists put on show and left the audience coming back for more each day.

SMCHS senior Delaney McCabe loves to attend Stagecoach every year to celebrate with her friends and family.

“It is always so much fun listening to your favorite country artists and dancing with your best friends!” McCabe said. “It’s always so nice to go and have a break right before finals start and kick off the end of the year!”

Another aspect of the weekend that has become a major focus, is festival fashion. Concert-goers stay true to southern country wear with men outfitted in American flag prints and women sporting classic cowgirl boots.

This year, was senior MacKenna Crocker’s first time attending the festival. She got excited by delving into the fashion aspect of Stagecoach.

“Picking out all your outfits and getting dressed up is really fun,” Crocker said. “The festival is already exciting on its own, but the fashion aspect just adds to the anticipation.”

Despite its country roots, the festival had more choices than barbecue. There were a variety of vendors offering items like mac and cheese, lobster rolls, tacos and the crowd favorite, ice cream.

Junior Joe McHugh attended the festival with his family and took advantage of the range of cuisine options.

“The chicken and waffles and watermelon were bomb,” said McHugh.

With all of the music, fashion, food and fun that was on display, the 2017 Stagecoach festival was undoubtedly an event to remember. Next year’s event will take place from April 27 to 29 and will once again transform Southern California into country territory.