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Coachella Lessons: 6 Things You Need To Know This Festival Season

Put down the flower garlands! It's all about snapbacks and dad dancing this year.

Forget the cool kids at the back.

This year we want to be partying like we're Leonardo DiCaprio at an MGMT concert.

If looking at most of the coverage of this year's Coachella music festival has taught us anything, it's that festival fashion is tired and predictable.

And festival behaviour, such as standing around hoping to be noticed by style bloggers or taking peace-sign selfies, is equally lame.

But, luckily for us, there are still some fun people left in the world, shaking things up a bit and starting new festival trends.

On closer inspection, Coachella's first weekend, in Indio California, was full of out-of-the-box behaviour.

So we've come up with the six most important things that Coachella 2014 has taught us so far.

Daytime Goths

Much like Edward Cullen, these sorts of vamps don't dissolve in the daylight - they sparkle.

Goth fashion is clearly making a comeback.

From full-on black leather and lace to simple chokers, varying degrees of gothic attire were spotted all over Coachella.

Rita Ora popped up in a floor-length black Roberto Cavalli number and Kate Bosworth toughened up her Carven floral romper suit with a black neck accessory.


All Night Disco Parties

Nope, this isn't the part where we tell you to dig out your flares and John Lennon glasses.

While the '70s might be responsible for questionnable hippy attire, it was also a decade that gave us some real groovy music.

Disco is making a comeback!

Of the names on the lineup this year, some acts are making distinctly '70s inspired choices.

Duck Sauce took to the Sahara tent on Sunday night to play singles from their new Quack EP - lots of pop-disco!

Chromeo and Haim were also supporting the disco vibe with some funky new tracks.

But it was Arcade Fire that really took the '70s biscuit.

Not only did they have a human disco-ball - Reflektor Man - take to the stage, but they also trotted out Blondie front-woman Debbie Harry to sing 1978 hit single 'Heart of Glass.'

So really, there's nothing to do except pick up a glitter ball, grab a smoke machine and Saturday Night Fever your way into the early hours.

Pool Parties

Who said festival season had to be all grass stains and muddy feet?

If Poppy Delevingne's hen do is anything to go by - a swish little afternoon soiree during Coachella's first weekend, sponsored by Superdry - pool parties are the sophisticated way to get on down.

Filter Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Lacoste - they all hosted water-side shindigs this year, to compliment the festival's many staged events.

Quick, get yourself over to a Vegas or Ibiza poolside and start snapping the sunset selfies immediately!

Better yet, inflate the paddling pool, shake up some margaritas and have your own fastival season pool party in the back garden.

Snap Backs

Put down the flower garlands and step away from the floppy fedoras, there's a new hat in town.

Boys have been rocking the snap back for decades, but it's taken a little while for the girls to catch on.

Finally, this summer is the summer of the snap back cap.

Neon hair looks great under a cap and you definitely need to pair it with some reflective lenses.

If you're not brave enough to try out this season's brighter hair shades, this tie dye cap from Urban Outfitters is just the right sort of alternative.


Bad Dancing

Really, if Coachella has taught us anything at all in its first weekend, it's that NO ONE has more festival fun than Leonardo DiCaprio in a mosh pit.

So, if we're going to have a totally amazing time this summer, we're going to need to take a lesson out of his book.

This means forgetting to look cool, getting out of our deck chairs and busting as many ridiculous, cringeworthy moves as we can possibly dream up.

Getting Competitive About The Little Things

Apparently Kelly Osbourne and Paris Hilton are at each other's throats again, after a Coachella run-in.

Not cool guys.

[Coachella 2014 Fashion Trends: We Like Short Shorts!]

[Lea Michele Paid Big Bucks To Wear Lacoste At Coachella]

Instead of fretting about friendship issues and competing over who's got the best comedy sunglasses, how about you apply your game face to something much more worth your time.

Like a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament!

Coachella organisers dreamed up an array of different championships - in sports that are usually tragically overlooked - and people were getting mighty fierce about it too.

So, next time you find yourself nodding off around the campfire, perk the group up with a Simon Says fight-to-the-death (although not actual death, obviously).