Fans and Valley businesses sing farewell to Coachella 2013

Weekend two of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is nearly in the books and it is the place to be for music lovers from all places and of all ages this weekend.

“I’m very excited to see Vampire Weekend and it’s awesome,” said 8-year-old Diego Amaya, of La Quinta.

With fired up fans, you’d expect to see a boom in business in Old Town La Quinta. However, John Bertram, the owner of Stuft Pizza, admits the hype of the music fests keeps some loyal customers at bay.

“I think part of what happens is the traffic and the amount of people coming for the festivals scares away a lot of our customers that think we’re too busy, so they stay at home or do take-out only,” Bertram said.

A Coachella-goer himself, Bertram says that misconception gives business a 20 to 30 percent drop.

“The nights are actually pretty mellow compared to spring break weeks,” he said.

Fortunately for him, Nelson Amaya, of La Quinta, brought in a crowd of festival buddies on Sunday to fuel up on pizza before heading out for the final day of Coachella.

“The food’s great. Get the ‘classic,'” said Amaya.

Amaya’s son Diego, who is likely one of the smallest of fans out there, says the best part of the crazy weekend is “seeing all of the music and being with my dad.”

For others, “The highlight of my weekend is probably going to be the Chili Peppers,” said Julio Cruz, of Los Angeles.

As tens of thousands of fans wave goodbye to Coachella 2013, the dynamic Amaya duo is ready to steal the show.

“I’m going to throw (Diego) on stage!” said Amaya.