Who Would Have Thought? A Music Festival on Wheels
Written By: Gabrielle Abenoja
Photographed By: Bianca Simonian 111 Music Festival
The Plan: Grab your slightly beat-up backpack, pull your flowy-lace-Coachella-music-fest outfit on, make sure your Instax is prepped with extra film, and jump on the Soundbus. From that point, take a seat, enjoy the lineup of local art and music, and ride the line – all the way to Palm Springs.
Twenty-nine miles, 38 musical acts, $1 entry—this is our kind of scene.
Cruisin’ from Coachella to Palm Springs, the 111 Music Festival is truly taking the magic of a road trip and putting a soundtrack to it. Interactive and entertaining, the mobile music festival showcases local art, music, and culture while riding down the beautiful Highway 111 (hence the name).
With each bus stop down the dusty desert highway, the Soundbus reinvents itself with a new lineup of artists as they pile in, make themselves at home, and groove to the next stopping point.
What started as the lovechild between The Coachella Valley Art Scene and SunLine, 111 Music Festival grew into a passion of the community. “This past year was our 3rd year! It’s amazing how time travels so fast. The idea came to be in spirit of serving The CVAS’s mission to cultivate a creative community by providing platforms for emerging artists in the Coachella Valley,” said Founder and Executive Director of The Coachella Valley Art Scene, Sarah Scheideman.
The inspiration came to Scheideman when she visited her younger brother in Portland, Oregon. While riding the MAX Line, there was a guitarist performing on the train. Scheideman thought, ‘Why can’t that happen with all different types of local musicians along the Coachella Valley’s Sunbus 111 Line?’ After she returned from her trip her business partner, Ian Cush, called SunLine Transit Agency with the concept and the rest was history!
Building rider awareness, educating the community, and providing an overall amazing atmosphere where the community gathers and thrives – this is what defines 111 Music Festival.
“Buses, by nature, group people together. They are the function of a healthy city. Our goal is to remind people that it’s not all about the destination, it’s the journey too. We hope festival attendees walk away with a better understanding of how our public transportation system operates and a wider knowledge of our local music scene,” said Sheideman
The mobile music festival travels from Coachella to Palm Springs, and plays music that ranges from hip-hop to folk offering a different music style for everyone.
Exclusively featuring artists local to the Coachella-Palm Springs scene, 111 Music Festival boasts music from every genre. From rap and blues to DJ beats, there is a journey catered for every musical taste.
Coachella Valley based rap artist Million Essex is one of the talented artists to be featured in the upcoming lineup. “Million Essex is an emerging hip-hop artist that has exciting energy and positive attitude towards making art. He is a great artist to feature on 111 Music Festival because he’s always game! Hip hop on a bus traveling from Palm Desert to Palm Springs?! Not a problem for Million,” said Scheideman.
An up-and-coming rap artist using his talents for spoken word and dope beats to rapidly make his way to the top of the local Coachella music scene? We’ll take a ticket.
Not a Trace: No need to worry about leaving a footprint on this trip. The SunLine buses are clean fuel only, either using CNG Hydrogen or Fuel Cell buses.
Party On: With seven straight hours of various music styles lined up, there won’t be a moment of boredom on this bus ride.
Million & Albertini
Million Essex
Nicolas Albertini
