Scroll through Instagram any time in April and you’ll see a stream of photos that are instantly recognizable as being from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival thanks to the iconic backdrop of a Ferris wheel against a desert mountainscape.
Even though it’s not a permanent structure at the Empire Polo Club, the attraction, officially named La Grande XL, makes the journey to Indio every year on 20 semitrucks, according to owner and operator Ray Cammack Shows. It is assembled by 10 team members over five days with the use of a 70-ton crane.
Ben Pickett, vice president at Ray Cammack Shows, said the La Grande XL wheel, with 36 air-conditioned gondolas, made its debut in 2017, replacing the original La Grande Wheel. He said that hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers have ridden the attractions over the last 15 years.
La Grande XL travels around the country to events including the recent Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as well as the L.A. County Fair and Orange County Fair. However, there is one element that is unique to Coachella and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival — a custom logo of a palm tree and a roadrunner at the center of the wheel that light up when the sun goes down. It was designed and built exclusively for the desert festivals.
“Because it is only used for Coachella and Stagecoach, the sign remains in Southern California when not in use. Altogether, the wheel features more than half a million LED lights and installing the logo is a detailed process that takes our team approximately six hours to complete. It’s the final element added during setup — we consider it the ‘cake topper’ that completes the entire wheel,” Pickett wrote in an email interview.
Pickett also offered some tips for taking photos of the wheel.
“Some of the best photos are taken at golden hour or sunset with the mountains and palm trees in frame. One of the most viral shots is the forced-perspective ‘holding the wheel’ angle and night shots also work well when the wheel is fully lit against a dark sky,” he wrote.
Riding the La Grande XL costs $15 for a 10-minute general admission ride, but you can spend $80 for a private gondola for up to six people and an express lane.
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