Coachella to hold 'Berniechella'

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Coachella will be “feeling the Bern” soon, as the city plans for a block party/rally dubbed “Berniechella” on April 21 and 22.

Just before the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, supporters of  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, will host the Bernie Sanders Block Party from 5 p.m. to midnight April 21 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22, on Grapefruit Boulevard and Vine Street in Old Town Coachella.

The free event is expected to draw between 1,500 and 3,000 people, although similar events nationwide have attracted as many as 10,000 people.

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Prominent DJs Shepard Farley and Zoe Kravitz are planned to perform at the event, as well as artists Moses Summey, Ozomatli, Alex Ebert and Venus and the Moon.

Beer gardens, food trucks and art exhibitions will also be a large part of the block party.

“It’s a party of people who are in support of a particular candidate,” event organizer Tizoc DeAztlan said.

DeAztlan said he hopes Sanders will show up and support the festival that bears his name. Organizers are in contact with Sanders' representatives, but the candidate has yet to say he'll attend.

The big draw is expected to be Thursday night, Mayor Steven Hernandez said, but organizers are hoping that Friday morning will draw people in who are just arriving for the second weekend of the Coachella festival.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here on this dais and the first time in the Coachella Valley that the campaign of a presidential candidate is willing to do an event,” Hernandez said. “I think it’s good for us. It’s good for democracy and it’s good for the city.”

The city won’t have to pay for anything related to the block party, and council members said they hoped that drawing thousands of people downtown will be a boon for the local economy.

“When these opportunities come, I think we need to take advantage of them,” Mayor Pro Tem Emmanuel Martinez said.

“I’d love to see Hillary (Clinton, the former secretary of State who is also vying for the Democratic presidential nomination) here too,” Hernandez added. “If she wanted to come here and do something we’d be open to that too.”

Follow Anna Rumer on Twitter: @AnnaRumer