Music3 min(s) read
Published 13:30 15 Apr 2026 GMT
Woman creates huge online debate after sharing video of Coachella crowd
A Coachella attendee has gone viral after posting a video of her experience in the festival's crowd.
This weekend marks the second and final run of acts for this year's edition of the arts and music festival, which is being held at Empire Polo Club, Indio, California.
The likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber will headline the Coachella stage once again, with the latter's set in particular receiving positive reviews online after a nearly four-year hiatus from performing.
But while many festivalgoers are gearing up for another weekend of steep food and drink prices, one thing they may not need to worry about is being bashed around by the crowd.
One woman posted a video of her own experience while standing in a full crowd at the festival, and users couldn't believe the energy (or lack thereof) on show.
Coachella's idle crowds
People who haven't been to the popular festival may be surprised to learn that the crowds here aren't as lively as its British or European counterparts.
Videos of headline sets at Glastonbury in the UK or Tomorrowland in Belgium often feature lively crowds, mosh pits, and even drinks being thrown in the air.
But over in California, things appear to be far more tame and quiet - to say the least.
Clips seem to surface every year, but with TikTok being as popular as ever before, the virality of the topic has peaked in the past week.
Video of the Coachella crowd
Keira Smallwood, a TikToker and influencer with over 1.9 million followers, poked fun at the Coachella crowd's lack of energy.
She filmed herself jokingly dancing with some exaggerated movements and her tongue out, only to pan the camera around to a crowd, which seemed unusually still.
This wasn't all, as multiple phones could be seen pointed at the stage as attendees remained still and quiet - because why would you want your video to be shaky or loud when you're watching artists at a festival?
The British influencer included text in the video which read: "Just a girl who really took British crowds for granted," with the caption: "Like why is everyone so still," with crying emojis.
Keira later posted a video that she and her friends "flew over to show Americans how a festival was done."
Judging by the reaction of viewers, thousands agreed with her take on the situation.
Reaction to the video
Taking to the comments of the TikTok video, one wrote: "Seen more lively crowds at the post office," as another user asked: "Why is no one dancing or singing?!!!
A third commented: "Wtf I thought people were exaggerating but they're literally just standing there lmao."
Another pointed out that it was "giving school assembly with phones," as someone pointed out: "Aussie here. You were meant for a Glastonbury, not a Coachella."
Festival fans are still perplexed by the lack of energy at the festival, with some taking to Reddit to suggest why Coachella can be so quiet.
Someone asked: "I’ve never been and am just watching from the couch and know there are pockets of crowds that are probably good but so many main stage crowds especially are just awful... why do these people even go?"
"The problem, especially at main stage is the headliners' fans camp out and have no care for any of the other artists. The parties [sic] always in the back where you've got room to move," one suggested.