In a bid to overtake Andrew W.K. for being the most party friendly candidate in the 2016 election season, Bernie Sanders has inspired a Coachella adjacent gathering called —actually — Berniechella.
It will take place April 22st and 22nd in the actual city of Coachella (the Coachella event takes place in Indio) in the lead up to the festival’s second weekend. The “Block Party” will be free for attendees and it’s being put on by supporters of Sanders. They’re projecting as many as 3,000 attendees, but considering how many people will be rolling into the valley for California’s favorite fashion and lifestyle parade, that number could go even higher. Sanders has drawn crowds approaching 10,000 at previous campaign events, so he’s basically a rock start at this point.
Berniechella musical guests will include Ozomatli and Venus & The Moon with appearances by DJs-in-that-way-we-are-all-DJs Shepard Fairey (the graphic designer) and Zoe Kravitz (daughter of Lenny). The ask is out from ‘Chella organizers to the Sanders camp to see if he can attend, but so far no answer has been given. Although he did introduce rapper Killer Mike before his festival set last weekend via a video message, so his presence has already been felt in the desert.
But this faux-chella is only the lastest festival-style celebration of the senator from Vermont. Currently in New York City there’s a days-long rally going on for Sanders that’s featured Vampire Weekend, Grizzley Bear and Dirty Projectors. This weekend TV On The Radio will appear in Washington Square Park to show their support, following what they surely hope will be a Sanders victory in the New York state primary. And last October there was BernieMan, a series of concerts and dance parties in Seattle, Washington meant to celebrate, “one of the most important political candidates in our lifetime.”
In 2016, Berner is the new Burner.
