by By: Breann Miller
Influencers and celebrities showed us the glamorous side of Coachella this weekend, with luxurious mansions hosted by brands and after parties like Neon Carnival. For over 20 years Coachella has brought people to Indio, California to celebrate artists and music of all kinds. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a rise of brands using Coachella as a marketing tool. Influencers like Alix Earle and Xandra Pohl were sent by brands to stay in mansion communities and promote their brand throughout the duration of the weekend.
Ysabelle Wallace is a TikTok influencer with 1.2 million followers and over 132 million likes on the platform. She recently gained a lot of traction and followers with her honest videos about the Coachella experience. Nicknamed “Ourchella”, Wallace posted video updates throughout each of the days with her experience camping and at the festival. With over 20 videos in total and more than 10 million views, the reception she received was overwhelming. People on TikTok felt as if she was bringing them along with her, experiencing her day with her.
A main topic of conversation during weekend one was the privilege of influencers and their lack of interest in the actual music. Wallace was refreshing to people because of her interest in the festival, rather than the brand deals and views it could create for her. Multiple videos show her watching different artists and enjoying what felt like has been lost in recent years. It also felt good to see an influencer not take advantage of their connections with brands and car camp like everyone else. Not only was she truthful about the difficulties of waiting in line for hours for showers or having to miss out on certain things to afford the overpriced food, but she took a comedic spin on the entire thing.
Her comments are overwhelmingly positive and encouraging of her content. TikTok user @pyftoo wrote, “Finally a video that isn’t inside of the influencer sponsored tents.”
The growing impact that celebrities and influencers have on Coachella is undeniable, and they have changed the way people view the music festival. Whether you enjoy the influencer culture surrounding the festival or not, it is refreshing to see the unglamorous side of it as well. People are always going to be interested in both aspects, but not many people want to show the world them camping in the dust and living in tents for three days. Ysabelle Wallace created a movement that encouraged a lot of other users to post about their experiences and showcase the realities of Coachella behind the photos posted on Instagram.
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Hi Breann,
I love your blog post! I also am a big fan of Ysabelle and from watching her content over the years I have noticed that she has always been very transparent and does not try to glamorize her life through a social media lens. I feel like that can partially be because she did not grow up in a wealthy family (she has said in previous videos). I think her understanding of social media mixed with her past life experiences allows her to appeal to audiences because her content is more relatable and refreshing.