Coachella is America's answer to Glastonbury where you can hang with the stars (2024)

ARIANA GRANDE took a selfie with me then told me we look cute together. This is already my best festival ever.

I arrived on site at Coachella this morning and soon exchanged a smile with Kendall Jenner over a rubbish bin.

The sheer glamour of it all makes this one of the world’s foremost festivals.

At Glastonbury, you can go four days without a shower and spend most of it a soggy mess.

This US counterpart is downright luxurious — given you are in the middle of a desert.

Against the backdrop of the otherworldly San Bernardino Mountains, over two April weekends, the quiet Coachella valley in northern California becomes the centre of the showbiz world.

A three-hour drive east from Los Angeles, the festival takes over the Empire Polo Club near Palm Springs.

Within minutes of arriving, I have ticked off a year’s worth of music moments.

Up-and-coming rapper Kyle crowdsurfs — on a surfboard carried by fans. SZA puts in an amazing performance before The Weeknd headlines the main stage.

And it is so hot out, I wake up feeling fresh as a daisy with no hint of a hangover, having guzzled about 15 bottles of water the day before.

The festival feels smaller than any British equivalent but the line-up on my visit last year certainly didn’t disappoint.

There was a stonking set from Jessie Ware, disco classics from Chic and singalongs galore for Haim, not forgetting the dazzling spectacle of Beyonce.

For what the superstar dubbed “Beychella”, she was joined on stage by 100 dancers and husband Jay Z before a Destiny’s Child reunion.

Flying the ten hours to California for a three-day festival would be a bit extreme, though — and I would never have stayed awake for the 1am end of Beyonce’s set with jet-lag.

I flew in three days earlier, which can be surprisingly cheap thanks to budget transatlantic airline Norwegian.

For some calm before the Coachella whirlwind, I checked into the Lafayette Hotel in San Diego.

The hotel has been beautifully restored to its prime when it was one of the city’s hotspots for the Hollywood elite in the Forties and Fifties.

Just down the road is hipster haven North Park, packed with quirky shops and Instagram photo opps.

San Diego as a whole feels like it is trapped in a time warp, with giant neon signs and retro retailers in which you can spend hours browsing.

For the best beaches and views, head to Coronado, home to miles of white sands and the magnificent Hotel del Coronado — another huge hit with the celebs in days gone by.

It is a fabulous confection of a hotel and its distinctive architecture makes it the perfect place for a spot of lunch or co*cktails at sunset.

Back in the city, my group and I grabbed some dinner at vegan heavy-metal restaurant Kindred, where the food is tasty and the atmosphere super-relaxed.

After driving up to Coachella for the weekend, it was time to hit the road again.

We took a detour through the breathtaking Joshua Tree National Park on our way to Los Angeles.

The national park was the inspiration for U2’s 1987 album The Joshua Tree and it’s easy to see why.

Its cinematic scenery made me feel like I was in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.

Further along our journey, we grabbed an In-N-Out Burger — a Californian fast-food chain adored by celebrities including Adele and Katy Perry.

And with good reason. The food there is delicious. As a starting point, the H Hotel by LAX airport, with its spacious rooms, makes for an excellent base.

It also means getting an early-morning flight home is no issue at all.

You are just a short drive away from West Hollywood, another great base for exploring the city as a whole, especially as we were determined to do some more star-spotting.

Brunch at the beautiful poolside Cabana restaurant at the Beverly Hills Hotel didn’t turn up any celebs, despite almost requiring a small loan to eat there.

But the restaurant, hotel and A-lister hang-out Chateau Marmont, with its old-school glamour, is certainly worth a visit if you can get in.

Singer Florence Welch had drinks at the table next to us and it seemed like a series of filmmakers were working out the final details of a deal behind us.

Down the road, Catch provided some of the best sushi I have ever eaten outside of Japan while the Getty Centre was the perfect place to soak up incomparable views of the city.

In recent years, downtown LA has been pumped full of money and is quickly becoming a destination in itself.

We missed out on a show at the Staples Centre but had lunch at the super-trendy Ace Hotel before wandering the streets and settling down in the Last Bookstore, surely one of the most beautiful in the world.

With not a drop of rain for ten days, hours spent dancing in the sunshine and mouthwatering food everywhere I went, I was California Dreamin’ of a return as soon as I touched back down on British soil.