When Dan Morfitt, originally from the United Kingdom, crossed a green door of the telephone booth at the corner of the central market in Indio, he knew he had to check it and see what was inside.
“I know what the front of an ad looks like and when we saw it, we had to go to him,” he said.
Once inside, the thrust on the telephone booth revealed a long brick corridor leading to another world inside the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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The secret entry of the old telephone pub at the Festival of Music and Coachella Valley Arts in Indio on Saturday April 19, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram / SCNG)
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The secret entry of the old telephone pub at the Festival of Music and Coachella Valley Arts in Indio on Saturday April 19, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram / SCNG)
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Morfitt was transported to an old -fashioned British bar nicknamed the old telephone pub, one of the various hidden bars that appear at the festival each year.
“I love it, but there are too many memories of Ipswich Town,” he said laughing, referring to the Ipswich football team in England.
This is because the surface of the Ipswich Town football club, singer Ed Sheeran, helped design the Coachella bar after announced that he would be a surprise guest during the two-time music festival.
“It is an English ad. You have had Guinness in there, you have good cocktails, good music, it’s just an atmosphere. This is the type of place where you enter and you think that there has been no way that they have just built it, it seems to be here for years,” said Adrian Garcia, the director of food and drink for the Goldenvoice festivals. Speakers, the Food and Befetage Director for Goldenvoice Festivals, which sets up The Hidden Speaking, the Food and Beverage for Goldenvoice Festivals, which sets up The Hidden Speaking, the Director of Food and Drinking.
The old telephone ad was only opened for the weekend two to coincide with the performances of Sheeran and built in just four days. According to Garcia, Sheeran visited the pub on Saturday before his performance in the Mojave tent.
While advertising is relatively easy to find with the name of the bar sporting the top of the phone cabin, people had to work a little stronger for the other three speakeasies. The hidden bars include the golden time inspired by Parisian, the Agavava outdoor bar mixture and the VIP Tiki bar.
Golden Hour is accessible through a mirror located by the specters building on a wall covered with false grass. Once people have spotted the door, a long corridor lit by flame -free candles that sparkle slowly lead to a dark living room adding to the fresh mood.
On Saturday afternoon, people were sitting along a long sofa and ordered drinks like Perdido in Paris, a kombucha with ginger infused with Tequila, and milk espresso, vodka coffee.
Near the Yuma tent, Mixteca offers a completely different atmosphere. The outdoor bar is simple and fun, with a few wooden chairs in the shade of palm trees and Latin music playing in the background.
The exclusive Tiki bar offers the most quiet views and is located in the VIP 12 Peaks area. The bar is accessible through a winding path surrounded by trees and greenery. The path then opens to reveal an artificial lake with swimming geese. The bar is a hut in front of the lake where people can have tiki drinks while they rast.
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