The first weekend of this year’s Coachella festival enjoyed its largest ever attendance figures, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The Indio California police department reveals approximately 80,000-85,000 people attended each day of last weekend’s three-day event, a jump of around 10,000 when compared to last year, which itself was the previous all-time high. The increase in figures comes despite Coachella expanding for 2012 to be held two weeks running, with the same line-up set to perform on the same grounds this weekend (April 20th-22nd).
Unsurprisingly, the increase in attendance also brought an increase in arrest last weekend. The Indio Police Department arrested 134 revellers compared to 48 last year, mainly for alcohol-related offences. “Compared to other events, sometimes there are 200 arrests at football games,” Indio police spokesman Benjamin Guitron told NBC.
This year’s Coachella festival is being treated to performances from the likes of Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Pulp and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.