Indio

Indio

Indio is the most populous (nearly 100,000 permanent residents) and is the fastest growing city in the Coachella Valley. If we’re in Indio, it must be “Coachella.” While it’s undeniable that the inaugural Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival put Indio “on the map” in 1999, there’s so much more to do and see than listen to the hottest bands under the sun in this city that bills itself simply as “the place to be.” First off, there’s the Stagecoach country music festival, which shares the same setting as Coachella on the lush grounds of the Empire Polo Club. These two musical extravaganzas – alongside other popular events such as the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival, Southwest Arts Festival, and International Tamale Festival – earned Indio its nickname of City of Festivals and draw more than a million visitors annually. Other beloved attractions include Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, the Coachella Valley History Museum and its new Date Museum, the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center and the Cabazon Cultural Museum. The Indio Chamber of Commerce offers self-guided tours of Indio’s many murals (6), a series of 12 outdoor panels commissioned to depict the city’s history and pay tribute to its people. Indio is also a promising agricultural region. An arid climate where onions, cotton, grapes, citrus, and dates thrive.