At the age of 15 Ben Bernal begged his father to bring him to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Weezer, one of his favorite bands, was performing and since his dad C.J. Bernal was a big EDM fan, he was happy to see Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers on the lineup too.

C.J. decided to buy a pair of tickets so the two Whitter natives could check out some music together.

“It was just a good opportunity for a son and dad to have some time together,” Ben said.

That was more than two decades ago and except for the two years the event shut down due to COVID-19, the pair say they haven’t missed a single Coachella since that first one they attended in 2001.

“It was something I loved so much. We just had such a great time that year,”  said 67-year-old C.J. as he stood next to his son backstage at Do Lab where they were checking out some EDM acts.

After having so much fun the first year and dancing together they decided to buy tickets for the next year when they once again saw The Chemical Brothers, plus Paul Oakenfold as well as Oasis, Prodigy, the Foo Fighters and the Strokes.

They had another great weekend and so decided to come back the next year, and then the year after that and so on until now.

“It just became a ritual, a family event,” C.J. said. “We started out as ‘lets just go again, and lets go again’ since it was such a fun weekend,” he added.

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The ritual now includes buying the tickets during the pre-sale, booking a place for a couple of weeks and planning out which acts to see.

And for Ben it’s become more than just about the music too.

“We’ve been able to experience amazing things together and that’s the most important thing. It’s a bonding experience,” Ben said.

“It grew into something that’s important to us from a family perspective. We consider it like our New Year’s. It’s an opportunity for us to get together and enjoy each other’s company in the desert and experience something we both love,” Ben added.