Save thousands of dollars and go to Coachella in VR

The two separate weekend runs of landmark American music festival Coachella have long been sold-out, thanks to a panic-inducing pre-sale before the spring even’t lineup was announced and a head-spinning general sale in January. But if you’re bummed about missing the boat or would prefer to save thousands of dollars and experience the festival from home, the power of VR is here to help you.

Announced today, Coachella is offering its first VR experience in collaboration with VR event company Vantage.tv. Every festival-goer with a valid ticket will receive a “special VR headset” — which looks a whole lot like your standard branded cardboard device.

If you’re not going but already have a headset, you can download the Coachella VR app for iOS or Android to access content before, during and after the Festival’s two-weekend run.

It’s an interesting take on Coachella’s decision to broadcast its festival out for the Internet community — a process that has largely taken place via live-streaming on Youtube. VR evangelists have often targeted the “concert experience” as ripe content for the medium, and you can already download a number of performances from bands to help you feel up close and personal.

But the interesting thing will be how much of the specific Coachella experience will be shown beyond the performances. The app already touts 360-degree panoramic views of the festival grounds, so it could be fun to experience what Coachella is like without the cost, heatstroke and known side-effects from psychotropic drugs.

Coachella’s app is available for Cardboard on iOS as well as Android. It will be available soon for the Samsung Gear VR as well as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

➤ Coachella