Want VIP Coachella Tickets? Bid on Sweet Relief's Exclusive Auction--With Two Days To Go!

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​Sweet Relief, the organization that helps local career musicians facing financial hardship due to illness and disability, is hosting a charity festival ticket auction for the sold-out Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2012. Coachella, as everyone knows, will be held over two weekends in April--and the fest sold out within hours of going on sale.

Kacie Yoshida, Sweet Relief's representative, says "As of now, we are the only entity that has approval from Goldenvoice to auction these passes off"--and the auction ends this Thursday, March 15!
 
The Black Keys, Kaskade, The Shins, DJ R3hab, Ximena Sariñana and many other musicians are also helping Sweet Relief raise money and awareness by donating their time and instruments to the cause. Find out what you can bid on after the jump.

Up for auction are a number of VIP Coachella passes and memorabilia auctions from some Coachella performers, plus meet and greets. (You could go backstage with the Shins! And Kaskade! And Andrew Bird! And DJ R3hab!)

"We are extremely grateful to be able to assist musicians in need who reside and work in The Coachella Valley," says Sweet Relief's Executive Director Rob Max in a statement. "This ticket auction will raise much needed funds for musicians fighting cancer, MS, heart disease and other career threatening challenges," he adds.

Not only that, it could be the last legit way for you to get tickets, since many of the auctions don't have that many bidders! (As of press time, for example, four VIP Tickets for the second Coachella weekend plus an Andrew Bird meet-and-greets had a Current Bid of $2,000, with only 9 bids.

Check out what else is up for auction here.

Aside from the auction, music fans have the opportunity to visit sweetrelief.org and enter to win 2 VIP Tickets plus VIP parking. A special $3 donation feature has been created for music fans sympathetic to the cause.

In a statement, Aric Steinberg, Director of Development at Sweet Relief said, "This event is an amazing opportunity for us to raise awareness about the challenges musicians face when they fall ill. If someone is able to donate $3 we appreciate it, but all they really have to do is read about the fund and send us their name and email to have a chance to be a Coachella VIP Festival ticket holder." The "Special Sign Up" for a pair of tickets ends March 21. To access the auction or sign up for the donation give away program visit https://www.sweetrelief.org/coachella-valley-musicians-fund/.

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