As more localized, genre-specific festivals surge in popularity and cash-strapped consumers struggle to justify swollen ticket prices, Coachella may no longer be the place to be.

Ticket sales have floundered for the typically ultra-popular fest, which usually garners about 125,000 daily attendees. Instead of a normal sell-out time of a few hours, three-day general-admission passes for the festival’s first weekend took over a month to sell out. This marks the first time in more than a decade that both weekends haven’t sold out.

Some critics blame the lack of artist diversity and novelty (all have recently toured) with the festival’s headliners: indie darling Lana Del Rey; rapper Tyler, the Creator; and pop star Doja Cat. Others point to the lowest ticket price of $499 as unaffordable in the current cost of living crisis.

With the festival beginning its two-weekend run in Indio, CA, on Friday, April 12, here’s a look at how Coachella is aiming to solidify its staying power with merchandise and promotional products.

1. Offering Fans a Variety of Designs

Instead of one-theme-fits-all merchandise, Coachella opted for a variety of styles in its lineup merchandise, where the festival’s artist roster is featured on the item’s back.

“Whatever Coachella is to you, we have something to fit your feels,” the website reads.

Fans are encouraged to choose their own merch adventure with six different art designs: Superbloom, Postcard, Watercolor, Sunrays, Flower Child and Desert Elements. From flowers to palm trees, the associated hoodies and T-shirts feature simple left-chest branding on the front and a stylized “Coachella” over a full day-by-day lineup on the back.

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The festival also expanded its merchandise options to other languages, releasing a “Festival de Musica” long-sleeve tee. Advertised as representative of “Latin flair,” the shirt features “Coachella” and “Festival de Musica y Arte” in multicolored gothic lettering.

The Spanish option comes as the event continues to expand into Spanish-language artists, with its first Latino headliner, Bad Bunny, performing last year. With international superstars Peso Pluma, J Balvin, Young Miko and Bizarrap all on this year’s lineup, Latina magazine recently declared that “Latinos Are Taking Over Coachella 2024.”

Coachella included merch with a “Latin flair” this year, as the festival continues to expand its Spanish-language offerings.

Given that items won’t ship out until after the festival has concluded, Coachella is hoping fans will want to commemorate their experience rather than sport the merch on-site. This aligns with attendee interest in wearing on-theme outfits – think bohemian and free-spirit – for the desert event.

2. Classic, Cropped Styles Are Most Popular

Solid colors with the classic Coachella logo dominate the festival’s sold-out merchandise, a category to which only 17 of the 64 official products belong. Over half of these products, labeled as “Coachella Classics” on the website, feature a minimalist design.

Specifically, cropped T-shirts and hoodies were in demand, with all six options sold out. The popularity of this style could be attributed to the largely teenage audience of the headliners.

Cropped styles featuring the classic Coachella logo have proven most popular among shoppers.

Enthusiasm for merchandise began early, with the lineup’s release in January marking a five-fold increase in online searches for Coachella-related items from the month before. E-commerce marketing company Omnisend reported that searches grew from more than 65,000 to over 350,000 from December to January, peaking this month with about 1.2 million searches.

3. Gamifying the Festival To Build Engagement

Amid ticket woes, Coachella is turning to the gaming realm to stoke brand engagement during the festival. The festival partnered with blockchain platform Avalanche to develop “Coachella Quests,” an on-site gaming experience for attendees.

To earn nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that enable access to festival prizes and experiences, fans will complete quests, such as finding hidden items around the event. Prizes include entry to VIP lounges, merchandise boxes and unreleased music.

The game enables the festival to learn more about their audience, as Coachella’s innovation lead Sam Schoonover told GamesBeat.

“As fans engage with Coachella by completing Quests, they earn and own tokens that can tell the festival more about their interests and activities while protecting their identity,” Schoonover said.

Coachella Quests, and the festival itself, will kick off Friday, April 12.