1 · The short answer
Coachella is usually held over two consecutive weekends in April at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, and it opens a festival season that runs through the summer. If you are flying in from abroad, buy one data eSIM before you leave and install it on Wi-Fi at home. Ringo Light's United States plan covers every festival on the calendar, from the desert to Chicago, as a trip plan: unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks for $17.99 or 30 days for $22.99, with nothing that renews. The plan is at ringoesim.com/usa.
Going on to Mexico or Canada? The Americas plan covers Canada, Mexico and the United States, 2 weeks for $37.99 or 30 days for $55.99, at ringoesim.com/americas. For the United States alone, the United States plan is the cheaper one.
Doing the whole season, or several countries in a row? The Global plan is $49.99 a month for 133 countries and renews until you cancel. The card to buy any plan is below this article.
2 · What your own SIM would do in the US
- From the UK. The United States is a long-haul roaming zone on almost every British plan. Some carriers sell a daily pass, some a weekly bundle, and a few charge by the megabyte if you have not added anything. A festival weekend is a heavy data weekend, which is exactly when that adds up.
- From the EU. EU roaming rules stop at the EU's borders, so a French, German or Spanish SIM in California is billed like any other trip outside Europe: a day pass or a price per megabyte, set by your carrier.
- From Canada and Mexico. Many plans include the United States or sell it as an add-on; check yours before you buy anything.
- From the US. You do not need this guide for the festival itself; your own carrier is at home here.
For everyone else, the simple way is to switch data roaming off on your own SIM, keep it for calls, texts and bank codes, and let the eSIM carry the data. Our shows the settings.
3 · On the festival grounds
A polo field full of people is a hard place for any network. The carriers bring in extra capacity for the big weekends, but in the evening, when the crowd is at its biggest round the main stages, messages queue, maps take a long time to draw and a call may not connect. Plan for it:
- The festival app. Coachella's official app carries the set times, the map and the alerts. Open it on the hotel Wi-Fi and build your schedule before you go in, so it is on the phone when the network is slow.
- The wristband. Your pass is a wristband with a chip, not a QR code on your phone. Register it online as the festival asks before you arrive, so it can be switched off if you lose it, and keep the confirmation email offline.
- Meeting friends. Agree a fixed landmark, the big wheel or one of the art pieces, and a time, rather than counting on a message getting through. Share your live location while the signal is good.
- Screenshots. The hotel address, the shuttle times, the car park or rideshare lot you came in by.
4 · Getting there and getting home
Indio is in the desert east of Palm Springs, a long drive from Los Angeles on the I-10 past the wind farms of the San Gorgonio Pass, and longer on festival Fridays. Most international visitors land in Los Angeles, rent a car or take the festival shuttles from the partner hotels, and stay in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio or on the campgrounds.
Ride apps have their own pickup and drop-off area at the festival, and it can be a long walk from the stages. At the end of the night, demand is high, the network is slow, and prices surge. Either leave before the last set, wait out the rush, or book the shuttle and keep its pass on the phone.
5 · Desert heat and batteries
April afternoons in the Coachella Valley are hot, and the nights cool down fast. Heat is hard on a phone: an iPhone in the sun will warn you it needs to cool down and dim the screen, and a battery drains faster when it is hot and when it is searching for a signal in a crowd.
- Carry a power bank and a short cable, and charge it every night.
- Keep the phone in a bag or a pocket, out of the sun, not in your hand on the rail.
- Turn the brightness down and switch off what you do not need; video eats battery and data together.
- Download the map and the set times, so a dead zone does not mean a dead phone.
6 · The rest of the US festival season
The same plan covers the rest of the calendar; the dates move a little each year, so check each festival's own site.
- Stagecoach, usually the weekend after Coachella on the same grounds in Indio, for country music.
- EDC Las Vegas, usually in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, three nights that run from dusk to dawn. The heat is lower at night, the walk from the shuttles is long, and the Strip is a connected city when you get back.
- Lollapalooza, usually four days at the turn of July and August in Grant Park, Chicago, between the skyline and the lake. The city round it is fully covered; the park itself is the crowd problem again.
Driving between them, or on to Canada? Our covers the long roads and the parks where no network reaches.
7 · What two weeks of unlimited data costs
Our priced the brands most people search for on the same day, 28 September 2026. Here is Ringo Light against the cheapest rival in each unlimited chart, with the length each one sells.
Swipe to compare →
Prices change; the comparison post has every brand and the full method.
8 · Which Ringo plan, and how to set it up
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM, sold to fund the full Ringo, one plan that works everywhere with your own number ported onto it. Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your number stays on your own line for calls and messages; the eSIM carries the data.
- The United States plan, for both Coachella weekends or any festival trip: unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks for $17.99 or 30 days for $22.99, nothing that renews.
- The Americas plan, for a trip that crosses into Mexico or Canada: it covers Canada, Mexico and the United States, 2 weeks for $37.99 or 30 days for $55.99.
- The Global plan, for the whole season or months on the road: $49.99 a month for 133 countries, renewing until you cancel.
Install the eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly, turn Data Roaming on for the eSIM line, and set it as your data line. The step-by-step is in our and .
The card below sells the United States plan; the same plan is at ringoesim.com/usa.
