Coachella 2026 opens with milestone performances, weather disruption and celebrity buzz

WASHINGTON: The 25th edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is underway in Indio, combining major performances, cultural milestones and high-profile celebrity appearances across two sold-out weekends in April.

The festival is scheduled for April 10-12 and April 17-19 and is drawing more than 100,000 people each day. This year’s line-up includes headliners Karol G, Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter, placing the event once again at the centre of global pop culture attention.

Carpenter launched the first weekend with a theatrical set inspired by old Hollywood, turning the stage into what was described as a stylised Sabrinawood world. Her performance featured appearances by Susan Sarandon, Will Ferrell and Sam Elliott and leaned heavily on cinematic storytelling.

The opening weekend also faced weather-related disruption. Strong winds led organisers to cancel a planned set by DJ Anyma on safety grounds. Weather officials warned that gusts could reach 40 kilometres per hour and also issued air quality alerts linked to dust carried by the wind. Health advisories said airborne particle pollution could worsen respiratory and heart-related conditions, highlighting environmental pressures that continue to affect large outdoor events in California’s desert region, even though pollution readings were otherwise moderate during the opening days.

Bieber’s headline set took a different direction, focusing on introspection and experimentation. He performed for 90 minutes and delivered more than 30 songs in a show that mixed nostalgia with digital interactivity and prompted mixed reactions from the audience. In an unusual choice, he used YouTube livestream features during the performance, accepted fan requests in real time and sang alongside footage of his younger self during songs including Baby and Never Say Never.

His set also included collaborations with The Kid Laroi, Dijon, Tems and Wizkid, while covers of songs by Chris Brown and Ne-Yo added to a performance that moved between personal reflection and familiar crowd-pleasing moments. Katy Perry, who was in the audience, drew online attention for her reactions, including a joke about avoiding advertisements during Bieber’s onstage use of YouTube.

Perry’s appearance at the festival also attracted notice because she was accompanied by Justin Trudeau. Their outing became one of the event’s most talked-about celebrity moments, with social media users referring to it as Traudeauchella. The pair were seen walking hand-in-hand and sharing food, while online reaction, especially from Canadian audiences, ranged from surprise to enthusiastic support.

The festival also featured several landmark performances reflecting its international reach. South Korean singer Taemin became the first Korean male solo act to present an official solo set at Coachella. His performance introduced six new songs and combined live instrumentation, visual production and thematic storytelling. Projected translations accompanied songs such as Parasite, linking the set to broader commentary on modern society while engaging a multilingual audience.

Filipino girl group BINI also made history as the first pop act from the Philippines to perform at the festival. The group delivered a 45-minute set that blended contemporary pop with traditional design influences in both costumes and staging. Their performance included Pantropiko and the debut of the new single Blush, and members spoke about representing Filipino music on a global platform.

Karol G’s closing performance was presented as one of the defining moments of the first weekend. She became the first Latina to headline Coachella, a milestone she said was both overdue and deeply symbolic. Performing largely in Spanish, she used the set to emphasise identity, migration and cultural pride, telling the audience that Latino communities had long shaped the festival’s legacy even if recognition had come later.

Her 90-minute show combined reggaeton with more reflective material and was backed by an all-female band and elaborate staging featuring mythic imagery and references to Latin musical traditions. Guest appearances by Becky G and Wisin, along with a cover of Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan, highlighted both her influences and her ties to fellow artists.

Beyond the performances, the festival continued to generate headlines offstage as well. Adele made a rare public appearance to watch Bieber’s set, while a steady stream of celebrity sightings added to the event’s profile. With the second weekend expected to follow the first, Coachella 2026 is emerging as a major showcase for shifts in global pop music, representation and the overlap between live performance, technology and celebrity culture.