Every April for the past twenty-seven years, the beloved music festival Coachella has returned to the Southern California desert, creating the ultimate two-weekend experience. Coachella’s first weekend in 2026 took place from April 10–12. Across social media, these first three days have blown up the internet through 2016 throwbacks, a strong lineup of artists, and unique attendee attire.
The three headliners of this year’s festival were pop star Sabrina Carpenter, pop culture icon Justin Bieber, and famous Latin singer Karol G. Each artist brought a creative approach to the main stage and was met with over 100,000 screaming fans.
Sabrina Carpenter transformed her Coachella stage into “Sabrinawood,” an immersive Old Hollywood-inspired set that was widely praised. She performed many of her biggest hits, proving her robust discography: “Manchild,” “Espresso,” “Tears,” and a Copacabana-inspired performance of “Feather.” Nonetheless, Carpenter didn’t leave the Coachella stage in all glitter and rainbows. Many fans have raised concerns regarding an unpleasant interaction with a crowd member. TikTok users have debated the justification of Carpenter’s remark that she did not like the sound of a Zaghourta, an Arabic celebration call, which Carpenter mistook as yodelling. Carpenter had responded to hearing the call with, “That’s your culture? Yodelling? […] I don’t like it.” Despite this new controversy, many of Carpenter’s fans remained enthusiastic for her second headlining night on Friday, April 17.
The second headliner of Coachella 2026 was Justin Bieber, who has amassed a huge musical career over the last nineteen years. Bieber had not performed a full concert since canceling his Justice World Tour in 2022. His Coachella set was far from undisputed; he took a relaxed, conversational approach, playing his music off of YouTube on his laptop. In between songs, he would show some of his past viral videos and footage from early on in his career. His setlist also included some throwbacks, including the fan-favorite “Beauty and a Beat.” Some fans found this fragmented, scrolling-through-YouTube setup to be unprofessional and boring, while others interpreted it as a funny moment, welcoming interaction with fans. Katy Perry commented on the performance, joking, “Thank God he has [YouTube] premium. I don’t wanna see no ads!”
Other artists who made an exciting return to the stage this year included David Guetta and Swae Lee, who continued the trend of bringing back their best hits from the 2010s. In contrast, newer singers such as Pinkpantheress, Addison Rae, KATSEYE, and Sombr made their Coachella debut this year and were quick to spark conversation.
Starting with Pinkpantheress’s set, the British pop singer has climbed the Top 100 charts over the past few years and recently entered the Top 10 with her song “Stateside + Zara Larrson.” She played this song as the opener of her Coachella performance, and followed it with other hits from her recent album, “Fancy That.”
Addison Rae is a rising musician who started her career as a TikTok influencer back in 2020. After being nominated for “Best New Artist” at the Grammy Awards, Rae has continued to hit many milestones, including this being her first time performing at Coachella. A notable moment from the night included her flashy performance of “Money Is Everything” with icon Maddie Ziegler dancing in the background.
Another “Best New Artist” nominee who made their Coachella debut this weekend was KATSEYE. Their new single, “Pinky Up,” was just released on April 9, and the global girl group continues to be a hot topic online. However, they have recently faced online discourse surrounding the absence of one of their members, Manon, who is on hiatus and did not perform at Coachella. Nonetheless, the girls made history by drawing one of the largest Sahara stage crowds ever for their Sunday set.
Coachella 2026 was an immaculate combination of nostalgic moments and new music. As hundreds of thousands of fans filled the desert venue for the second weekend, more internet-famous clips and treasured memories have emerged.
