Empire Polo Club

We came here for a lacrosse tournament that bought out the entire venue. The place is massive (!) and absolutely beautiful maintained. All of the staff – both the lacrosse and grounds staff – were so nice and helpful.
My favorite place is the Tack Room Tavern on the grounds. They were incredibly swamped and yet way out of their way to make sure we were well cared for.
A hint: somehow get a bike. The grounds are around two square miles, and it’s a looong walk anywhere.

«I’m up in the woods, I’m down on my mind
«I’m building a still to slow down the time»
— — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ — — — — — — -
In A Sentence™
One of the best music venues on planet Earth.
Quick Review™
+ Coachella. Stagecoach. The Big 4 Festival. That one Pearl Jam concert that only hardcore PJ fanatics drove to.
+/​-​There are horses.
— We’re not permitted to ride the horses.
KEY:
+ Positive observation
+/​-​Neutral note
— Negative observation
Employee of Excellence™
Non-​applicable: every one is great. The guys who maintain the grounds perhaps. Or, that one Law Enforcement Officer who got me out of the sand when my 15 passenger van got stuck (by my doing). A particular LEO is not a jerk and is actually happy to protect and serve. (Who will survive in America?)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ — — — — — — -
The festivals hosted here by its owner — Goldenvoice — are the following:
Coachella — Two-​stars
Stagecoach — Two-​stars
Now, two 2-​star festivals? What gives? Why do you hate music, Edwin P.
Shut your rhetorical mouth! I love music. (Check the number of check-​ins, asshole!)
I love music so much that I have very high standards and want better for C & S. I am like a parent that demands the straight A’s from her kids. I want all A’s dammit!
Pro Tip: Wear hearing protection and drink plenty of water.
So, am I going to two-​star the venue as well? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck no.
The venue is close to perfect. It’s gorgeous. It is life-​altering. It’s rich as fuck.
I started coming here when I was young. (There was no Unilocal®.) I will stop coming here once I am dead. People get married here; people are conceived here; people get their remains spread here, clandestinely; people — unfortunately — die here; and, people finally get to live a lil’ here after waiting all year for April.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ — — — — — — -
Tourists?
Lots of tourists here — naturally — especially since, you know, the number of festival-​goers is far larger than the actual population of Indio, CA. Be nice to neighbours, even if they are crabby because of the excess road congestion and noise pollution and Über® drivers.
Kids?
Not good for kids! Leave them home, dammit.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ — — — — — — -
Rating: Five-​stars, «Woohoo! As good as it gets!»

For $ 10 per vehicle, you can tailgate and watch polo on Sundays. This has to be one of the better deals in the Coachella Valley. We bring our EZ-​up for shade, a couple of camping chairs, a portable grill, and a cooler filled with food and beverages. It’s pretty much a party up and down the side of the polo field. Everyone gets along with everyone. The «divot stomp» at halftime is always a good time. There’s even a guy who brings a beer pong table.
I get here when the gates open at 10:00, just to make sure I secure my tailgating spot.

This place is beautiful. I was out here with my daughter for the 2014 USA Field Hockey Festival and was really impressed with the beautiful views… I’ve never seen a Polo match, but I bet watching one here would be amazing.
I was very happy with the way most of the did were prepared for field hockey, but it WAS too long on a number of fields… still very well maintained, just a little too long. Parking wasn’t great for an event as large as this, but I’ve been to worse venues… and I did always find a spot.
Food hete was just ok, and too expensive… as expected.
It wasn’t a perfect venue for this event, especially since it’s 3000 miles from the east coast, where the majority of field hockey is played. However, the location was large enough for this event and the breathtaking views made the shortcomings seem unimportant.

Where have you been all of my life? This place is amazing! We came for a polo match one Sunday afternoon in January and vowed to come back as often as we can. It was such a relaxing way to spend a beautiful Sunday — a nice picnic, good friends and a great match of polo.

We all ways have a great time here so many different activities love watching the polo pony’s

Was happy to see on the news that The Club super conserves water. We always wondered about this. The grounds are watered with Colorado River water and the aquifers below our valley is for drinking water. Right on.

This is the venue in which Coachella bought out straight. They actually own this piece of land exclusively for their festival, therefore, they can legally do what they want with the land and they mold the land to their liking. During the off season they do a good job of maintaining it which costs a lot of money outside the festival. This explains why the ticket prices are $$$ yearly besides over paying for some of the bands like the headliners. They do Stagecoach which is the sister version of the festival which is all country music and the blues festival. The only thing that bugs me is that they don’t hire their own staff, especially for security, therefore, you’re dealing with asshole outsiders all the time. It is a nice open space concept, the distance between one stage to the other, unlike Lolla where you have to walk miles, is reasonable.

Enormous venue. Stunning view. Surrounded by mountains. Extremely clean. Helpful staff. Outstanding place to hold Coachella and other such events.

Huge venue, well-​staffed employees, located in a great part of town that won’t yield excess traffic (aside from whatever brings you to the venue).

What a perfect venue. When you come here it is clear why so many great events are held here.
Huge
Safe
Beautiful
Clean — well maintained
Organized — traffic (people and cars) is well managed
Employees — polite

Outstanding Venue & Space For Music Festivals
SITREP
I have been to a couple of different music events here at the Empire Polo Club, the one that is most notable is the Coachella Music Festival. The other was a Blue Grass event.
In both instances of these respective categories of events, the Empire Polo Club has proved to be a excellent venue.
DISPARITY
Those comparing my Coachella Music Festival Review with this review will note that I give the venue a higher rating (4-​Stars for Coachella Music Festival vs. 5-​Stars for Empire Polo Club). That is because this venue works diligently with the local community in providing the necessary logistic support to manage the traffic in and out of the venue as well as ameliorate the parking situations.
What goes on INSIDE the venue during the event, is entirely up to the promoters of that event. Hence, when I feel the promoters of the event our gouging the concert goers on necessities such as water, that has nothing to do with the venue.
THE LOWDOWN
Empire Polo Club runs a smart and excellent operation that hosts some pretty amazing music events and festivals.

My family and I attended the U. S vs. Great Britain Townsend Cup tournament this past weekend at the arena and we were very pleasantly surprised and had a great time. The atmosphere is upbeat without being stuffy and all the spectators were in a great mood. There seemed to be a great appreciation for cocktails along with that for the sport and there were fans of all ages. This was an evening event so it got a bit chilly but I am looking forward to attending a match during the day sometime in the future. This is one of those special deals that probably won’t last when people catch on but for now, its free for spectators and that is a great price to learn about the sport of polo!

What more can I say? CoachellaAaAaAaAa!

COACHELLAAAAAAAAA EVERY YEAR
One year I stepped in hot, fresh vomit, but that’s not their fault.

Went there for the BIG 4 concert and was pleasantly surprised by the facility. I’m from Hawaii, and there’s NOTHING like it here. The concert venue area was surrounded by hedges and tall palm trees with lush, green grass in the HUGE stage area that consisted of concessions, tented dining areas, and even a cool ferris wheel (though I don’t know if it was permanent or what else was by it) We had VIP tickets and it was worth every penny… er, dollar.
The VIP «tent» (food/​drink/​lounge/​restroom) area was very nice and clean with a modern canopy, fountain, and lots of seating areas around planters. The lounge area was especially cool with couches, large «ottomans», and coffee tables. Good food offerings (stone oven flatbread pizza was ono –Hawaiian for yummy!), but DISAPPOINTING beer choices (Coors light or Blue Moon) AND price -$ 9 for a 12 oz??? YIKES! Restrooms (port-​a-​potties) were a little far from the stage –over 100 yards, but quite ample and reasonably clean.
The stage area was lower than the VIP area, so you could stand in the VIP area and still have a pretty good view of the stage, and was park-​like allowing comfortable standing, sitting, or prostrating. The VIP «pit» was a good size and offered an excellent view of the stage, although, probably due to wear and tear, was mostly dirt. My gripes about the VIP «pit» are: A) There was no direct, exclusive access to and from the VIP «tent» therefore making it a b*tch to go to the restroom or get a drink. And B) It was quite a distance from the VIP «tent» making it a b*tch to go to the restroom or get a drink.
The (dirt) VIP parking lot was quite a distance from the entrance (at least a quarter mile,) and probably could’ve been closer, as we had to cross a grass field that was between the lot and the venue.
Overall, it was visually beautiful and well appointed, thus offering a nice ambiance and, ultimately, an awesome concert experience.
Note: I gave the venue a ⁴⁄₅ because of the parking and the access from the VIP tent to the pit although I don’t know if it was the fault of the venue or not.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING MUSIC VENUE.
I came here for Coachella ’10 and the view was phenomenal. It was hands down the most breathtaking view I have ever seen at an outdoor concert/​festival.
On top of that, the air is so clean and fresh, and everything is very well kept. You can tell that they really take good care of the place.
Also a great place to people watch!

Absolutely breathtaking venue for any event. It reminded me of the golden age of Palm Springs when movie stars flocked here and the desert was super glamourous.
The mountains, the grass, the ridiculously huge and plentiful palm trees, with polo field were so charming. The grounds were meticulously kept, the views stunning, parking ample.
I would LOVE to see a music festival here. It was a perfect venue for the dog show. Seeing the polo ponies practice was also so awesome.

Nestled in the Coachella Valley and completely surrounded by mountains, the Empire Polo Club is literally a glorious oasis in a vast and intimidating desert.
It’s the home of the legendary Coachella Music Festival, and hosted Phish’s 4-​day Festival 8 extravaganza last October, which is when I got a chance to visit here. The enormous main-​stage area was flanked by dozens of concession tents vending everything from spinach knishes to craft beers from all over the USA. Prices weren’t dead cheap, but neither were they offensively gouging.
The grounds themselves are expansive — I didn’t explore the camping area, but the main-​stag site easily accommodated the 40,000+ fans who came to see their favorite band. The grass was also lovely — no dusty, muddy field here. Bathrooms, as I recall, were in only one centralized location, at the extreme rear of the venue behind the main bar tent. They were a host of port-​a-​potties set up in a rectangle, and there was never a wait and the things were shockingly clean by festival standards.
Overall, this was the swankiest, ritziest, cleanest and most comfortable festival venue I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. The tickets to the multi-​day show were expensive, and I understood why the first minute I set foot in the venue.

Love it! Love it! BEAUTIFUL! Great place to have a the Phish Festival 8. The grounds are amazing and the grass is like carpet. Such a wonderful climate, sun shines all day and cool at night. The campgrounds were safe and the place was so clean. Every morning and all day long they had people picking up trash left behind. I would love to go back again.