My first Coachella experience was unforgettable.

The year was 2011. I slept in a tent and didn’t shower for three days. I busted out dance moves I didn’t know I had to Duck Sauce in the Sahara tent. I was serenaded by The Tallest Man on Earth’s acoustic guitar under the Gobi tent. I cried when Arcade Fire played Wake Up and a sea of white balloons fell from the sky like magic. (A year later, I’d meet a musician in one of my favorite bands and we’d end up dating, but I digress). Yes, Coachella was my heaven on earth, and in its absence this season due to COVID-19 prevention, watching this documentary at full volume and with space to dance is the next best thing.

The new documentary Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert, streaming for free on YouTube, captures the evolution of the festival that has become one of the most famous events in America. Directed by Chris Perkel, the film is a video diary of the festival’s 20-year history; starting from its inception and punk rock roots in 1999 to recent collaborations with mainstream headliners Beyonce and Kanye West. What started out as a two-day, 40,000-attendee event has amazingly morphed into a three day, double weekend, 90,000 person-attended one.

Interviews with prominent figures in Coachella’s history tell the story of its metamorphosis with pure passion and hilarious anecdotes. From hosting the first reunion show of Jane’s Addiction to dissecting the 2012 Tupac hologram, and even claiming that Daft Punk’s performance birthed the EDM movement, Coachella’s rich history is something unlike any other.

Artist Shepard Fairey said it best, “Coachella isn’t defined by genre, it’s just ‘good is good.'” It has and continues to draw the biggest artists in the world, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Madonna, A-Trak, Rage Against The Machine, Pixies, and Björk just to name a few. Here’s hoping its absence in 2020 will be just a blip in the Coachella legacy, and it’ll come back next year, bigger and better than ever.