Coachella 2012 Attendance: New Record Set From Weekend One With More Than 80,000 Festivalgoers

By Peggy Truong | April 19 2012 12:36 PM

While folks were going gaga over the Tupac hologram at Coachella 2012 this past weekend, the sold out festival quietly set a new attendance record.

REUTERS

A woman crowd surfs across dancers at the Do Lab at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California April 14, 2012.

Sponsorship Link

According to the Indio Police Department, 80,000 to 85,000 festivalgoers were on site each day, a jump from last year's record-breaking number of 70,000 to 75,000 people per day. Benjamin Guitron, a spokesman for the police department, also confirmed that there was an increase in the number of arrests (via NBC Los Angeles).

134 people were taken into custody (mostly for alcohol-related cases), compared to last year's 48 arrests. But the number is still low, as football games, for example, can produce as many as 200 arrests.

For the past decade or so, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has hosted the biggest names in the music world, including Prince, Rage Against The Machine, Madonna, Jay-Z and Beastie Boys, up-and-coming EDM artists and relatively unknown bands, all while providing a place for celebrities to display their hippie best (we're looking at you, Paris Hilton) and party into the wee hours of the California night.

This year's lineup saw the return of nearly forgotten bands like At The Drive-In and Refused, and welcomed festival usuals like the Black Keys, Bon Iver, Arctic Monkeys and Santigold.

With passes to the festival selling out year after year, Coachella promoter Golden Voice made history this year by adding a second weekend, with an identical lineup and set times.

We know many of you were unable to attend this year's festival because passes sold out much sooner than anticipated. We were truly surprised by the overwhelming response and remain honored by your passion and enthusiasm . . . we hope that these changes will give everyone the opportunity to purchase [tickets] directly from Coachella.com, organizers wrote on the Coachella website in May 2011, when dates for the two weekends were announced.

Since wrapping on Sunday night, Coachella's first weekend has been the talk of the town, thanks to the historic Snoop Dogg duet with a hologram with the late Tupac Shakur, mind-blowing sets from newcomers and Azealia Banks and The Weeknd and some famous festivalgoers. (One headline involves Rihanna and her suggestive Instagram photos, while plenty of attention has been given to Holo-Pac memes).

Expect weekend two to be no different (in attendance, anyway).