The first week of the 25th edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicked off last weekend, from April 10 to April 12 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

With artists Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and KAROL G headlining the event, the festival sold out less than a week after its announcement. Like each year before, the Coachella festival offers three exciting nights packed with performers on eight different stages from 1 p.m. until nearly 1 a.m., for two weekends.

Just two years ago, Carpenter claimed in her iconic “Nonsense” outro that she would “see you back here when I headline.” As the first headliner of Coachella 2026, Carpenter returned with the biggest and most ambitious performance of the three-day festival, with a vintage Hollywood or “Sabrinawood” inspired set and costume design.

Opening the set with “House Tour” — drawing on the hype of the recent music video release — Carpenter performed a total of 20 songs, including her popular hits “Feather,” “Espresso” and “Manchild” from her three most recent albums. Throughout her set, the stage transformed from a Hollywood Hills look to a cityscape while her backup dancers changed from dogs to burlesque dancers to match the songs.

To carry out the story told by her songs and set throughout the night, Carpenter had five stunning costume changes — the gaps in performances filled by guest stars Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell. Concluding her show, Carpenter performed “Tears” atop a water fountain throne before driving off in a vintage car.

Other notable performers from Friday evening were The xx, Turnstile, BINI — the first Filipino act to perform at Coachella — and KATSEYE, who, to many fans’ dismay, performed without their sixth member, Manon Bannerman, who remains on hiatus, but was seen in attendance at the festival. Still, KATSEYE attracted significant attention, debuting new looks for their single “PINKY UP,” which was released the day before their performance.

KATSEYE was joined by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — the singing voices of Kpop Demon Hunters’ Huntrix — to sing Golden in beautiful eight-part harmonies.

Justin Bieber was the headliner for Saturday and unlike Sabrina Carpenter’s grandiose performance, he took a more subdued, intimate approach. For the majority of the set, he was alone on stage, relying solely on his vocals — even YouTube-searching old videos of himself singing as a kid to harmonize with.

He opened with “ALL I CAN TAKE” and a variety of songs from his recent album “SWAG,” including the single “FIRST PLACE.” Toward the middle of his 30-song setlist, Bieber performed classic hits from early in his music career, such as “Beauty And A Beat” and “Sorry.” Throughout the performance, Bieber was accompanied by a few guests, including The Kid LAROI, Dijon, Tems and Wizkid before closing out his performance with “DAISIES.”

Besides Bieber, a significant performer from Saturday was The Strokes, who returned to perform at Coachella for the first time in 15 years. Additionally, Addison Rae, sombr and PinkPantheress all made their Coachella debuts, with Rae even performing on the main stage with guest star Maddie Ziegler.

Sunday night’s headliner, KAROL G, made history as the first Latina headliner in Coachella’s history. Matching Carpenter’s energy, she had an elaborate stage, over a dozen back-up dancers and a number of costume and set changes. Like the other headliners, she was joined by a few guest stars, including Becky G, Mariah Angeliq, Wisin and Greg Gonzalez.

KAROL G performed 26 songs, opening with “LATINA FOREVA” and closing with a remix of “PROVENZA.” Throughout her set, she drew attention to ongoing violence toward the Latin community in the United States, urging those struggling to continue to feel pride in their culture.

Other notable performances on Sunday evening were from Young Thug, Laufey, TOMORA and Gigi Perez. Not only was Coachella 2026 Laufey’s Coachella debut, but the day after her performance, she dropped a much-anticipated music video for her “Madwoman,” featuring Alysa Liu, Lola Tung, Megan Skiendiel and Hudson Williams.

Beyond the performances, the Coachella festival is a popular source of content for creators, with many posting a series of videos about styling outfits for Coachella and blogging their time at the festival. However, this year, a variety of issues arose for content creators.

In the fashion scene, some South Asian content creators called out the normalized cultural appropriation taking place at festivals, with many dressing in a “boho-maximalist” style that actually derives from South Asian and Indian fashion, dating back thousands of years.

Moreover, many content creators made elaborate “jewelry dresses” with the idea that they would have the best and most original outfit at the festival. However, because so many creators took this approach, the final outfits fell flat for viewers and the content creators were far from unique in their outfits.

A primary issue for many festival-goers was with entry and booking Airbnbs. Issues arose a few days before the festival, when some influencers were quietly uninvited from brands that had sponsored their trip and tickets or when Airbnb owners canceled pre-booked rentals to charge more for last-minute bookings.

Others were denied entry to Coachella due to invalid tickets. Despite claiming to buy them through the official Coachella resell site, some were denied entry as tickets “could still be a scam if they are on the Coachella site.” Meanwhile, some attendees experienced resellers reporting their sold tickets as stolen, taking back the tickets with no refund to the buyers.

Despite all of the issues with entry and stay, the Coachella festival has so far proved to be an incredible weekend of performances, dancing and singing. With the first weekend over, fans hold their breath to see what weekend two will hold.