What it takes to build Coachella’s most recognizable icon

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If you browse Instagram in April, you’re sure to see tons of photos from the Coachella music festival. The pictures are easy to spot because of the famous Ferris wheel and desert mountains in the background.

La Grande XL, a large attraction that visits the Empire Polo Club annually, isn’t a permanent fixture. According to its owner, Ray Cammack Shows, it arrives in Indio on 20 semi-trucks and takes a team of 10 people five days to set up, requiring a 70-ton crane.

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I’m so excited to be following all the action from the last day of Coachella! Karol G is headlining tonight and I can’t wait to see her close out the festival on the main stage. I’ll be sharing photos and updates on artists like FKA Twigs and Foster the People as they perform too – it’s going to be an amazing day!

According to Ben Pickett, a vice president with Ray Cammack Shows, the current La Grande XL wheel—which features 36 air-conditioned gondolas—first appeared in 2017, taking the place of the older La Grande Wheel. He also noted that over the past 15 years, hundreds of thousands of people attending the festivals have enjoyed the company’s rides.

La Grande XL travels to events nationwide, like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the L.A. County Fair, and the Orange County Fair. But it’s Coachella and Stagecoach where you’ll see something truly special: a custom-designed wheel featuring a palm tree and roadrunner logo that lights up at night. This unique feature was created specifically for these desert festivals.

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From its start as a small desert festival, Coachella has grown into a huge influence on pop culture. Take a look back at some of its most memorable moments, including performances by Daft Punk and Beyoncé, the famous Coachella astronaut, and more.

The sign stays in Southern California between the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals. It’s a massive structure with over 500,000 LED lights, and our team spends about six hours carefully installing the logo. We see it as the finishing touch – the ‘cake topper’ – that brings the whole wheel together, Pickett explained in an email.

Pickett also offered some tips for taking photos of the wheel.

He noted that the most popular photos often feature mountains and palm trees during golden hour or at sunset. A particularly shareable shot involves a ‘forced perspective’ angle where someone appears to be holding the steering wheel, and photos taken at night, with the wheel brightly lit against a dark sky, also perform well.

A ride on the La Grande XL costs $15 for 10 minutes. For a more exclusive experience, you can rent a private gondola for up to six people, which includes express lane access, for $80.

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2026-04-13 00:01