The beautiful people came out in force over the weekend to let their freak flags fly at North America’s most elite music festival. See exclusive photos of hipsterdom’s 1 percent strutting their stuff.
Over the course of its 13-year run, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has staked a reputation for excellence on two fronts. It is, to be sure, North America’s top tier summer music fest, offering a Pu pu platter of cutting edge alterna-rock, hip-hop, and dance music acts in an oasis-like desert setting. But also, as an unintended side effect, the event provides an elevated stage where hipsterdom’s 1 percent—its coolest dudes and hottest women—come out to strut their stuff.
At crowd level, Coachella can unfold like some impossibly glamorous dog and pony show, where partiers let their freak flags fly and pump fists in time with a 4/4 beat while the beautiful people make an improbable show of force, sporting up-to-the-minute fashions and too-cool-for-school attitudes, and conspicuously baring their flesh in an array of barely there outfits.
Despite an uncharacteristic cold snap and a spattering of rain on the festival’s Thursday opener, 2012 has seen no shortage of hipster standard bearers and blissed-out weirdos. The Daily Beast brings you an exclusive photo gallery featuring some of them. —Chris Lee
Jason Sheldon for The Daily Beast
