The Best Desert Festivals

Ever wondered what it might be like to head out to the middle of nowhere and party among sand dunes? Well, if you haven’t you’re probably thinking about it now. Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? 

While it might sound like a wild dream, there are actually a fair few desert festivals across the globe that make this dream come true every year. Partiers travel from all over to head out to remote areas, temporarily ditching the world as we know it, and submerging themselves in a faraway paradise as they jam to some of their favourite artists on stage. Sound good? We think so too. 

From Californian wastelands to sun-smothered Spanish getaways, here are the best desert festivals in 2024. 

Coachella 

Photo: Coachella / Facebook.com 

When: Friday 12th - Sunday 14th and Friday 19th - Sunday 21st April 2024 

Where: Empire Polo Field in Indio, California, USA

2024 lineup: Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat, Blur, J Balvin, Ice Spice, Deftones, Peggy Gou, Peso Pluma, Tinashe, Jungle, Grimes, Jhene Aiko, Lil Yachty, Charlotte De Witte, and more

Coachella pops off in the Colorado Desert and is known as one of the most famous music festivals in America. It’s common here for artists who define a genre to perform truly epic performances, including show-stopping sets from Daft Punk and Beyoncé. This year, the fest is going as hard as ever, with a huge lineup covering mainstream genres and the occasional less-mainstream genres like emo, soul, and punk. 

Because of how popular the fest is, it’s split across two weekends. Both weekends feature the same lineup, art, activities, and food, though, so don’t worry about missing out on anything like that. Coachella is also known for booking reunited groups for their first comeback show with No Doubt on the bill for 2024.

Monegros Desert Festival

Photo: Monegros Desert Festival  / Facebook.com 

When: Saturday 27th July 2024 

Where: Monegros Desert in Fraga, Spain

2024 lineup: Chase & Status (live), Natos y Waor, Brutalismus 3000 (live), Adam Beyer, Charlotte De Witte, Sara Landry, Andy C, Eats Everything, Seth Troxler, Patrick Mason, Fatima Hajji, OTTA, I Hate Models, Charlie Sparks, Mau P, Shlomo, and more

Coming in with its 31st edition, Monegros is a festival in Spain that attracts over 55,000 good-time seekers. Monegros puts a focus on techno - making it easily one of the best European techno fests - but is more than happy to welcome some of the biggest names in hip-hop, drum and bass, dub, dubstep, house, disco, and psytrance (which has its own stage this year), to the desert, too. 

Head over for 22 hours of nonstop tunes spread over 12 stages featuring the world's best artists right now, emphasised by visual experiences, stage production, and décor. Find more house and techno festivals. 

Desert Daze

Photo: Desert Daze / Facebook.com 

When: Thursday 10th - Sunday 13th October 2024 

Where: Moreno Beach, Lake Perris in California, USA

2024 lineup: TBA 

Close by a lake, Desert Daze is great, allowing attendees to take a quick dip when it gets a bit too hot. Another benefit of this one for those worried about the heat is that the fest goes down at the back end of the year to avoid overly intense sunshine. The multi-genre fest welcomes common popular sounds, including rock, pop, and hip-hop, with a general focus on psych sounds.

Since the festival skipped last year, we'll have a look at its 2022 lineup to give you a feel for what to expect this year. In 2022, the fest brought Tame Impala (playing Lonerism in full), Iggy Pop, King Gizz, BADBADNOTGOOD, Sky Ferreira, JPEGMAFIA, Viagra Boys, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Sleaford Mods, and more to the desert. 

Surrounded by sand, the lake, and tall picturesque mountains, it’s definitely one of the best festivals in the desert.  

Stagecoach Festival

Photo: Stagecoach Festival / Facebook.com 

When: Friday 26th - Sunday 28th April 2024 

Where: Empire Polo Field in Indio, California, USA

2024 lineup: Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, Post Malone (country covers), Willie Nelson & Family, Leon Bridges, Brandi Cyrus, Brittney Spencer, The Beach Boys, Cloonee, Nickelback, Diplo, Wiz Khalifa, and more 

Another American festival, Stagecoach is one for wearers of ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots! Yep, Stagecoach is one of the biggest country music festivals in the world, attracting around 80,000 music fans each year. 

More than just country, you can find rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, country blues, and more here, too. And this year, they’ve expanded even further beyond that with DJs and late-night performances from Nickelback, Diplo, and Wiz Khalifa. Offering loads of attractions and experiences including a Ferris Wheel, Guy Fieri's Stagecoach Smokehouse, the Compton Cowboys bringing their horses and stories, and an instrument petting zoo - we don’t know either, we’re guessing you get to give a few instruments a play.

Stagecoach is sold out this year but now you’ve got it on your radar for 2025. 

Sandbox Festival

Photo: Sandbox Festival / Facebook.com

When: Thursday 16th - Saturday 18th May 2024

Where: El Gouna, Red Sea in Egypt

2024 lineup: TSHA, Paul Kalkbrenner, DESIREE, Call Super, DJ Holographic, Traumer, Chloe Caillet, and more

Simultaneously in the desert and beside the sea, Sandbox is pretty special. This electronic fest goes down in a resort town on the Red Sea, near Hurghada, and celebrates its tenth edition in 2024. On one side, you have the Red Sea, which you can float along in thanks to its high salt content, and on the other, there’s a desert that goes back further than the eye can see. 

The lineup for 2024 dropped recently and it's looking like another stunner with the names listed above as well as Deer Jade, VIZAR, Paula Tape, Hunee, Baloo, and more.

With brilliant lineups, an unbeatable location, and extras such as wellness workshops and art, Sandbox 2024 will surely be incredible. 

From America to Europe, there are so many killer desert festivals to check out. No matter which you’ve got your eyes on, you’d better start stockpiling the sun cream! 

Ready to find your dream festival? Search Skiddle now to find the best festivals spanning all genres. Or check out the best festivals in Morocco, Spain, Greece, and Mexico, or the best trance or EDM and dance festivals. 

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.

Header: Monegros Desert Festival / Facebook.com