By late afternoon, the Sonora Tent hums with distortion, rock and heart. Youth in Doc Martens and patched-up denim squeeze together under the dim lights, sweat mixing with anticipation as the next band plugs in. At a festival known for blockbuster headliners and massive production, Sonora pulses wit h a different kind of urgency—raw, loud, and alive. It’s where underground scenes meet global ears, a curated space that’s steadily become one of the Coachella Valley Music Art Festival’s most beloved sanctuaries for discovery. “You walk in here and it feels like your favorite house show got dropped into Coachella,” Lizette Gomez, 22, of Riverside shared, crowded by a crew of friends hoping to catch a handful of sets at the Sonora stage. “The bands, the crowd, the chaos! It’s raw in the best way. Everyone’s just here for the music, no egos.” Since 2017, the Sonora Tent has been curated by René Contreras, the founder of Viva! Pomona—a grassroots music festival known for its bilingual lineups and its ability to spotlight the next wave of genre-defying artists before they blow up, held every year at The Glass House in Pomona since 2013. Through his work with Viva!, Contreras carved a lane in Southern California’s rock DIY scene, making a name for himself as someone who could bridge cultures, genres, and generations through music. Goldenvoice took notice, tapping him to bring that same energy to Coachella, and over the years, he’s transformed Sonora into a beloved cornerstone of the festival experience. Sonora stands in stark contrast to the megawatt main stage acts. Instead of blockbuster headliners, the tent focuses on emerging and underground talent—artists who built their audiences through zines, Bandcamp drops, and backyard shows. In a festival increasingly dominated by viral moments and slick production, Sonora remains raw, messy, and vital. Think: mosh pits breaking out during a set, or the crowd screaming every word of a Together Pangea hook like they’re at a house party in East LA. “I think the Sonora Tent is the one space at Coachella that feels like its own world separate from the rest of the festival,” the band said right before they took the stage for a mid-day set. “It’s certainly incredibly well curated and is a direct representation of the underground in the major festival space, which is really amazing.” The vibe inside the tent is unpolished in the best way possible. There’s no pretense—just fans and artists locked into a shared moment. Many of the bands playing Sonora are performing at Coachella or even California for the first time, and that energy is electric. “The crowd at Sonora is always different,” Gabriel Rameo, a fan from Long Beach, shared during Friday evening while Orange County grunge-rockers Julie took the stage. “It’s the only stage where I can see a punk band, a cumbia-infused indie act, and a shoegaze group in the same day—and it all makes sense.” That genre-fluid spirit is intentional. Contreras’ booking philosophy centers on community and risk-taking rather than trend-chasing. Latinx and bilingual artists have become mainstays, reflecting a shift in the cultural landscape and offering space for identities long excluded from the festival circuit. Whether it’s the surf-punk rhythms of The Red Pears, the dreamlike Latin alt-pop of Girl Ultra, or the energy of Divino Niño, every act in the tent feels part of a larger story about reclaiming space and sound. “It’s absolutely amazing that Coachella offers a space for emerging artists like this,” Together Pangea shares on Sonora. At its core, Sonora captures the ethos of a backyard show you’d typically go to in your local suburbs for five dollars, gone global. It channels the spirit of Southern California’s backyard punk scene, giving it a high-production platform without diluting its spirit. The artists may now have LED lights and pro sound systems behind them, but the urgency, the sweat, and the crowd-surfing chaos remain the same. “I’ve been coming to Coachella for almost a decade, and watching Sonora grow has been wild,” Gomez shared. “It started off feeling like a hidden gem, just a few of us punk and indie kids sweating it out in the back and now it’s like, everyone knows this is the place to find something real. It still feels like ours, though.” And for many fans, that’s what keeps them coming back. “You can catch the next Cuco or Clairo on the main stage,” Rameo shared, “but Sonora is where you discover the next artist like that, before the rest of the world does.” Related Articles Coachella 2025: Record Safari returns for the festival for Record Store Day Coachella 2025: Inside the exclusive headliner merch booths for Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone Coachella 2025: Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott, and the Go-Go’s with Billie Joe Armstrong among Friday’s highlights Coachella 2025: The 5 most mouthwatering burgers at the festival Coachella 2025: Lady Gaga delivers a dazzling Coachella performance for the ages ...read more read less