Coachella 2026 Kicks Off With Sabrina Carpenter's Hollywood Spectacle

Coachella's 25th anniversary edition opened Friday in Indio, California, and the desert already has its first story. Sabrina Carpenter, who two years ago closed a sunset set at this same festival by promising she would return as a headliner, did exactly that — building a 90-minute Old Hollywood fantasy called "Sabrinawood" that reviewers called the most theatrical pop set the festival has seen in years.

Carpenter arrived to the main stage in a vintage car, stepped onto a catwalk lined with flashing marquees, and opened with "House Tour" — fresh off its newly released music video — immediately setting the show's cinematic tone. The concert blended elaborate set pieces, multiple costume changes, and tightly synced choreography into a continuous narrative arc that ran from a film noir highway intro all the way to a sprinkler-soaked finale with "Tears."

Rather than leaning on musical guests, Carpenter opted for actor cameos that reinforced the "live movie" structure. Sam Elliott played a highway cop in the opening video, Will Ferrell appeared as an electrician staging a fake power outage, Susan Sarandon played an older version of Carpenter reflecting on the downsides of stardom, and Samuel L. Jackson provided a voiceover during "Juno." No pop stars shared the stage, which itself was a statement.

Before closing with "Espresso," Carpenter told the crowd: "Two years ago, I wanted to put out a little song before Coachella. And now I think you might know the fucking words." In 2024, she had released the song the night before her performance. Almost nobody in the field knew it yet. On Friday, tens of thousands did.

Carpenter is one of four headliners at this year's festival, which runs April 10-12 for Weekend 1 and repeats April 17-19 for Weekend 2. Justin Bieber headlines Saturday night at 11:25 p.m. PT, marking his first billed Coachella performance after years of surprise cameos during other artists' sets. Karol G closes out Sunday as the first Latina artist ever to headline the festival.

Saturday's schedule includes The Strokes and Addison Rae on the main stage before Bieber, alongside sets from David Byrne, Interpol, Jack White — a last-minute addition at 3 p.m. — Solomun, and David Guetta. Sunday brings Young Thug and Major Lazer to the main stage before Karol G, with additional performances from Laufey, FKA Twigs, Foster the People, and Fatboy Slim.

First-time Coachella performers this weekend include K-pop groups KATSEYE and BINI — the first Filipino group to play the festival — and Nine Inch Nails performing alongside Boys Noize as a combined act called Nine Inch Noize.

One set that will not happen: Anyma's midnight slot on Friday was canceled due to strong wind conditions. He had been slated to debut his new audiovisual project "Æden" following Carpenter's set.

The entire festival streams free on YouTube, with separate channels for each of the seven stages and a multiview feature that lets viewers watch up to four simultaneously. Streams begin at 4 p.m. PT each day. Both weekends sold out within days of the September announcement. Resale passes remain available through AXS, StubHub, and Gametime.

Weekend 2 repeats the same lineup starting April 17. Bieber still has Saturday night. Karol G still has Sunday. And the desert still has six more days to go.