On Saturday, SES stopped by the Vestal Village near the Coachella Music Festival, the brand’s annual camping/party/concert/living environment for friends.
The event has evolved over the past nine years or so from a small house party during the festival at a rented house, to a three-day extravaganza that includes up to 800 overnight campers, 1,000 day time party guests, musical performances all day and most of the night, free flowing drinks, and support from majors sponsors like Jack Daniels and Red Bull.
Unlike the other celebrity-driven hotel or pool parties that now invade the area during the festival, Vestal Village has a different mission.
Vestal VP of Marketing Derek Boucher describes it as an unorthodox camping community, more of a living environment and comfortable place to hangout during the weekend than a media/celebrity spectacle.
The sprawling 50-acre property means there is lots of space for people to spread out, and people camp near friends and have lots of mini-parties throughout the property. Others hang out near the bar, listen to the bands that play during the day, our lounge near the pool in between going back and forth to the Coachella site.
Guests invited to camp are usually a mix of Vestal family and friends, friends from other brands, athletes, musicians, and retailers.
“It’s kind of a melting pot of our world,” Derek said.
A larger, more diverse group is invited to the day party that ends at 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The property includes a large barn that Vestal turns into a full music venue on Friday and Saturday nights starting at about 10 p.m. and lasting until 4 a.m. The space includes a bar, and secret performances that are not disclosed ahead of time.
When Vestal first moved the party to this big estate, they thought they could run it on their own, and set out a lot of beer and other drinks envisioning that people could help themselves and manage themselves.
But the party grew so big, “It became mass chaos,” President Johnny Gehris said, laughing.
Back then, they also did not have 24-hour security, and Derek found himself chasing party crashers from the property at all hours of the night.
Flash forward six years, and Vestal Village is very professionally run, with help from two companies, BeCore and The LTMA Group, which handle a wide range of jobs, including production, set up, ticketing, security, operations and logistics.
Professional bartenders are on hand all three days to manage the drinks, and there are enclosed outdoor showers, bathroom trailers, a restaurant zone that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and an Emergency Medical Technician and ambulance on site 24 hours a day.
The Vestal team can now focus more on the artistic direction of the event, and are amazed what it has turned into.
One of the highlights is the secret performances in the barn. On Friday, performers included Eagles of Death Metal, Golden Sun, Mystery Skulls and DJ Dave Catching.
On Saturday, Patrick Dylan, YNGCULT and LA Riots performed.
We have some photos from Vestal Village on Saturday and of the people we saw above in our slide show.
