About Coachella, California

Coachella is the easternmost city and namesake of the Coachella Valley in Southern California’s Colorado Desert. It is one of California’s fastest-growing cities with a population of 40,704 as of the 2010 census.

The city was founded as Woodspur in 1876, when the Southern Pacific Railroad built a rail siding on the site. In 1901, the citizens of Woodspur voted on a new name for their community and at a town hall meeting, the homeowners settled on “Coachella”. Coachella remained a town until incorporation on December 13, 1946, after residents voted by a 5-1 majority to form a city. Coachella first began as 2.5-square-miles.

Known as the City of Eternal Sunshine, three popular fiestas are celebrated each year in the town: Cinco de Mayo (May 5), the 16 de Septiembre Fiestas Patrias (Mexico’s Independence from Spain) and the 12 de Diciembre (the patron saint of Mexico, Santa Maria de Guadalupe) to celebrate the Virgin Mary.