Flags, bros and vibes: 5 first impressions on Splash House from a fest newbie
Ever since I first experienced that special awe that comes with seeing a pastel sunset over the Ferris wheel at Coachella, I’ve been unable to get enough of the Coachella Valley's beloved music festivals.
Whether I was genuinely losing myself in confused delight when Will Smith inexplicably showed up on the Coachella stage last spring, dancing my butt off to the-only-at-Stagecoach spectacle that is Diplo playing his annual country set or just chilling with friends at the campgrounds, I’ve found that nothing — not even passing my dreaded recent 30th birthday that clearly makes me geriatric by fest standards — has dimmed my enthusiasm for these signature local events.
Well, almost nothing. For all my inability to say no to any opportunity to get down in the desert, one festival has always eluded me: Splash House.
It’s not so much that it didn’t sound fun — who doesn’t love a good pool party? — but more that even the best lineup of DJs (and Splash House’s are usually nothing to sneeze at) has still never felt like quite enough to justify committing to spending three sure-to-be-scorching Palm Springs summer days anywhere else than my couch.
More: Splash House 2024: The ultimate guide to tickets, parking, who's performing and more
But when a Desert Sun editor came calling with an opportunity to check out this year’s version of the desert’s (only?) poolside EDM festival, the music fest lover in me knew I couldn’t well pass up a chance to see what the desert's "other music festival" is all about.
So, this morning I threw on my coolest (read: still not very) t-shirt and an absurd amount of sunscreen (I think I got burned anyway) and headed out to the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel. A few hours later, I’m happy to report I survived the temps that felt to be about a billion degrees and even managed to have some fun — and learn a thing or two.
Here are some observations from my first Splash House, or as I’ve always thought of it, the rambunctious baby brother in our music festival family that's always up for anything.
1. Splash House is all about the vibes
It can feel a little lonely and, well, lame to roll up alone at what is basically a pool party on steroids as a notebook-toting journalist. So I was lucky when two Splash House vets were quite willing to get me up to speed on what I needed to know while waiting in line for the shuttles that take you between hotels.
Abel Romero, who traveled to Palm Springs from the San Fernando Valley, explained that probably the most important thing to know is that each of the three hotels has a different vibe. As he put it, The Saguaro is the place for rowdy partying, the Renaissance is more chill and Margaritaville is somewhere in between. While I didn’t make it to Margaritaville on Saturday, Romero’s perspective on the other two hotels felt pretty accurate.
Meanwhile Romero’s friend, Anthony Lozano, dished to me about what makes Splash House so special. He said he’s been to some of the biggest festivals in the country, including Coachella and the EDC festivals in Las Vegas and Orlando, but thinks Splash House beats them all because of the unique vibe that comes with the event being centered on the pools and hotels and the unique communal vibe that creates.
“Look at this,” he said as we entered a pool area at the Saguaro filled with smiling revelers. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”
Of course, he said, it also helps that you get to sleep in a hotel rather than on the dirt at a camp site.
2. Freak flags fly high here — literally
While Lozano’s point about the advantages of hotels over camping struck a chord with my aging back, I assumed I would miss the unique, fun and occasionally cringey sense of spectacle that a festival campground provides.
However, I needed not worry about this as I soon learned that Splash House approximates the festival campground vibe in its own unique way. Whereas at the polo grounds people fly colorful (and sometimes humorously vulgar) flags over their campsites, here they instead hang their flags over the hotel balconies that overlook the pool.
Those flags (combined with the mountain backdrop that was particularly impressive at the Renaissance Hotel) created a unique scene that I have never seen before. While the specifics of some of my favorite flags can't be printed here if I want to keep my job, my newspaper-friendly favorites included one adorned with a "Barbie" song lyrics with a twist: “Come on Splash House let’s go party” and another celebrating “The Real Bros of Splash House.”
3. It was a memorable place to witness a gold medal moment
Did I mention it was hot yet? Just checking. But with my schedule dictating that I visit the festival during the hottest part of the day, I wondered if I wouldn’t get a taste of the rah rah atmosphere Splash House is so known for. While I can’t comment on what things will look like later in the evening, I can say the early bird seemed plenty jazzed to be there.
But while lots of people were enjoying the pools, the most amped group of dudes I saw the whole time were those crowded around the TV in one of the hotel bars for the end of the USA-France Olympic basketball game.
Seriously, I haven’t seen this much joyful bro-ing since my college days in the SEC. When Steph Curry hit the last of those surreal end-of-game threes, it was like a bomb went off. Too bad they can’t have the Olympics during Splash House every year because these guys were doing it right.
4. Splash House festivalgoers put the 'party' in party bus
While I wasn’t surprised to see festive scenes at the pools and bars, I was kind of shocked that perhaps the most fun vibe of all could be in a rather unexpected spot: the party bus taking me from the Renaissance to the Saguaro.
But I must report that’s just what I found as this bus seemed to have it all: Booming tunes, free samples of Pedialyte for some reason and, yes, stripper poles that my bus companions were taking enthusiastic advantage of (thankfully everyone did manage to keep their clothes on — although, this being a pool party, many of them weren't exactly wearing much to begin with). One guy even shocked us all when he started somehow doing flips inside the bus.
When I got on what appeared to be a standard Sunline bus for the trip back, I assumed it might pale in comparison. But while there were no stripper poles, things still got pretty fun once the driver started blaring some dubstep. Maybe Sunline should take note.
5. My tip: If you go, give in to what makes Splash House Splash House
The best music festivals seemed to conjure up a certain hard-to-describe yet clearly present feeling of camaraderie and connectedness that can almost feel cheesy when you try to put it into words. So my advice has always been to not think about it too much and instead just embrace it.
When Romero broke all journalist-interviewee protocol and went to pin some kind of faux cherry plant to my shirt, I did exactly that. He said something about this being his way of spreading love or something, and while I didn’t totally follow, it felt like I had found the kind of fun little moment you come to an event like Splash House for. So readers, if you find yourself at Splash House and someone wants to pin a fake plant to you, well, I say you’ll have more fun if you let them. I did.
OK, so would I go to Splash House again? Definitely, although I’ll surely be praying monsoon season comes through with cooler temps next time around. (Or maybe not... we don't want another Tropical Storm Splash House situation like last year, do we?) Heck, I might even try to convince my editors to let me wear a bathing suit, or at least put a little more effort into my outfit. After all, this crew really set the bar.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 5 Splash House first impressions from a newbie to the Palm Springs fest