Sunbaked Indio is more than 5,000 miles from the streets of Paris. But hidden among the food concessions at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival is a very dark pop-up bar meant to evoke the City of Lights.

It’s called the Golden Hour, and it’s the brainchild of Adrian Garcia, culinary director and food and beverage director at Goldenvoice Festivals, which puts on the three-day bash at the Empire Polo Club in the desert city.

He wanted to recreate an experience he had on a trip to Europe last fall.

“When I was in Paris, I stumbled into this Italian restaurant that had a speakeasy in its basement,” he said, standing by the bar of the Golden Hour. “If you didn’t realize it, we go down about 6 feet on the way here. So right now we’re technically in a basement.”

To get there, customers pass through a mirror on a wall covered with fake shrubbery. Then they walk down a winding wooden deck to an ominous black door.

“To me, it’s an escape,” said Garcia.

The walls are covered with photos of the festival grounds that he described as “Monet-zied,” filtered to look like French Impressionist paintings.

Festivalgoers don’t seem to have trouble finding it. Even shortly after the gates opened on Friday, the first day, the tight space was filled with boisterous people.

The Golden Hour serves beverages priced $18-$28 with names like Espresso au Lait, Perdido en Paris and Luxembourg Spritz, plus Bud Light for $14.

There are two other speakeasies left over from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival that took place at the polo grounds the weekends before Stagecoach.

They are both outdoors, but unmarked and provide festivalgoers a place to sit and relax while they enjoy their libations.

One is called Mixteca. It’s behind the Mane Stage near Tacos 1986. The other is a tiki bar next to a pond near the VIP section.

Related Articles