‘Farmchella’ shows appreciation for local field laborers

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) -- For some, Coachella Valley's festival season means late night concerts, rave wear and a boom in tourism for the desert.

But offshoots of the popular Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, like 'Farmchella,' are hoping to show appreciation for forgotten parts of the Coachella Valley, field laborers.

The annual event, presented by Celebration Nation, has planned an evening of entertainment, resource distribution and giveaways.

The event comes as local nonprofits, like TODEC, are also raising awareness about the true underbelly of the Coachella Valley through advertisements like 'The Real Coachella' billboard.

The 10 billboards placed across the Coachella Valley, Inland Empire and Los Angeles County, want to present a new image of Coachella to festival-goers. One that appreciates the work of Southern California's field laborers, who TODEC says generates over $512 billion in revenue.

"Coachella Valley is very recognized for the festival, the Coachella Festival. But this festival is only two weeks. What's left the rest of the year? Our farmworkers," Sandra Reyes, a program coordinator for TODEC said.

Reyes says over the past few months, a tense immigration climate has raised fears in many of their farmworker clients.

"Because of the doubt and the concerns, e have seen that in the fields the workers don't go to work," Reyes said.

Now, as TODEC navigates uncertain immigration terrain, they're hoping festival-goers will think of the 'real Coachella' during their next visit to the desert.

For TODEC resources, visit: https://todec.org/