Coachella 2008 - April 25-26 - kicks off tomorrow in the desert of southern California. Here's the full skinny on the event, with stages, maps, artists and performance times.

Survival Guide for Coachella festival-goers (Press-Enterprise) - Summarized information on how to stay cool and hydrated, protecting yourself from the sun by wearing hats and sunscreen (there is almost no shaded areas at Empire Fields), what you can and cannot bring and food options (plastic not accepted, so bring cash because ATM lines are usually very long).

You can view an Excel sheet of all three days performances (thanks to NoInput) or check out the official Coachella customizable schedule here.

More Coachella 2008 news and features:

- Coachella releases schedule (sixsquare)
- Coachella 2008 Set Times Unveiled (Spin)
- Mouse's Coachella Saturday Schedule (Classical Geek Theatre)
- Coachella Schedules in PDF format (MyDesert)

Crave Online has released a Music Guide to Coachella 2008 with a detailed line-up of artists not to miss and in-depth review of performers and other events.

And of course, check out the Coachella website for all the latest. You may want to watch the AT&T BlueRoom telecast which really needs to step it up this year, especially after the huge controversy from Lollapalooza 2007 when Eddie Vedder's anti-Bush statements were censored by AT&T, although the company says it was an accident. Yeah, and I'm King Tut.

However, perhaps to AT&T's horror, rumors are flying around that Eddie Vedder may make a surprise appearance at Coachella this weekend. You can almost bet that if he does, he will say something to irk AT&T, so don't be surprised if they pull the plug on him again, should he make the rumored surprise appearance.

Labels: Coachella, Music Festivals