Coachella 2024: This senior couple has been attending the festival for nearly a decade

Sally Arroyo, 73, and her husband, Bob Arroyo, 80, can be found throughout the Empire Polo Club every April, and they're easy to spot as two of the only people walking around with a handwritten list of set times.

Their Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival schedule for 2024 was organized by day, with stars next to the names of artists they really wanted to see perform. The festival is all about enjoying music for the La Quinta couple, so they prefer not to use their smartphones while there.

Bob and Sally have been Coachella festivalgoers for nearly a decade, and don't plan on stopping any time soon.

The tradition started when their neighbors, Philip Berkovitz and Michael Huober, had spare wristbands. Bob and Sally had wanted to attend far before then, but work had always gotten in the way.

"That was an absolute blast," Sally said. "We said 'we're going' from then on, and we don't know how we're going to do it, we're just going to go."

The couple now buys their wristbands during the pre-sale, before the lineup for the festival is even announced. They have never been disappointed by who is performing, Bob said.

"We learned very early on that some of the best acts are the early acts," Sally said. "Also it's not that crowded then, that early, and (there's) a lot of undiscovered talent."

They go to the festival early and stay late into the night. And they go both weekends.

"Because, well, we can't see everything in one," Sally said.

"Some of those (performers) that we want to really see, we want to see twice," Bob said. "But a lot of times we'll go to something thinking it's going to be really good and it's not as good as we hoped, so we have alternatives and we'll see those the second week."

Both firmly believe the festival is worth every penny they spend. Sally even did the math — they paid $581 per wristband and if they see just 40 of the acts, it comes out to about $14 for each performance. They also don't have to pay for lodging and are about a 10 minute drive away if they take their preferred route.

"We live here. There are things to do here," Bob said. "We try to take advantage ... as long as we're healthy enough to do it, it's worth doing."

The couple, seasoned desert dwellers that they are, already know what they need to pack to go to the festival. They bring backpacks, jackets for when it gets freezing at night, Enro face masks for the dust and Vibes ear plugs to protect their ears.

"We go not (to) be seen," Bob said. "I'd rather see other people than (be) noticed."

But people will still come up to them and even ask for pictures. For example, someone wanted a photo of Bob because he looked like their grandpa.

"This year, we had a woman walk by saying 'I'm gonna be like you, you know, I'm always gonna be coming to Coachella,' kind of thing," Sally said.

"And I hope they do," Bob added.

Part of their Coachella preparations is getting ready for all the walking they'll have to do. They start going on more walks starting in January to train for it.

And, of course, they get familiar with the artists on the lineup.

Bob and Sally mostly listen to music on the public radio station KCRW, which Sally said is their "secret weapon." The station always plays new artists, and the DJs will identify which ones will be at Coachella.

They'll also go through and listen to the entire lineup, which is part of Sally's process for making their lists. They print out the schedule (both of them miss when Coachella had brochures with all the information festivalgoers would need).

Artists they missed during Weekend 1 included The Beths and Chapelle Roan. Their top two favorites were Atarashii Gakko! and Cimafunk, and they planned on seeing them again ahead of Weekend 2. They are big fans of the international acts.

"Music is amazing," Sally said. "It brings people together."

They see people of all ages at the festival, and Sally said they saw a lot of older people there this year.

"I really look forward to being surprised and amazed at how good some of these groups are, and I'll be sorry when I can't do that anymore," Bob said.

But the couple attends more festivals and events than just Coachella. They've been to things like book festivals, concerts at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and even other events organized by Goldenvoice.

"We like new (experiences)," Sally said.

"One of my doctors said, 'You know, you're old,' and I said, 'I know I'm old, but it's better than the alternative. So I'm gonna keep doing what I can do and stay as healthy as I can to continue doing what I like. Why should I stop?'" Bob said.

Coachella is still No. 1 to them for music though. They have many fond memories at the festival, like the year film score producer Hans Zimmer was on the lineup and the whole crowd started to sing along when he played a song from "The Lion King."

"Nothing compares to the smorgasbord that Coachella offers," Sally said. "Really, that's it, the buffet of music."

Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Senior couple from La Quinta attend Coachella for nearly a decade