Coachella in the Caribbean: Music Festival Cruise Announced

Ahoy, music mateys!

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Gerry Maceda / Retna Ltd.

Pulp perform during the second weekend of Coachella Music & Arts Festival held at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on April 20, 2012.

The music festival Coachella may have ended in April, with about nine months before it’s due to happen again, but that doesn’t mean it’s staying out of the news. First, festival organizer Goldenvoice said that Coachella may have to move from its home in Indio, Calif., for tax reasons—and maybe even take 2014 as a bye year. And now Goldenvoice has announced that this year will include double the Coachella, or, rather triple: one by land and two by sea. The usual California festival will be complemented by two separate cruises aboard the “S.S. Coachella.” (The ship’s real name is the Celebrity Silhouette.) The two voyages, to the Bahamas and Jamaica, will take place in December.

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The Caribbean warmth and up-close intimacy with musicians aren’t the only benefits to cruise-going, according to organizers. Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett told the New York Times that the all-in-one nature of life at sea will help concert-attendees get more music for their money:

“Some sets will be longer than usual,” Mr. Tollett said. “We don’t have a curfew.”

The concert schedule on board the ship has not yet been announced, but the line-up includes Hot Chip, Pulp, Girl Talk and Yeasayer. Non-music activities will include DJ lessons and a talk with festival organizers. All that comes at a cost—$700 minimum per person, once service charges are taken into account—but that price, which includes accommodations and meals, is only twice as much as the new price for a three-day pass for the 2013 land-locked festival. Still, for music lovers who can’t afford the to shell out, recent news offers consolation: the L.A. Times reports that musicians like Mumford & Sons have started making their own “mini-Coachellas.”

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