Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival photos capture first weekend energy in Indio
The coachella valley music and arts festival returned to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, on Friday, April 10, 2026, for its 25th edition, with the first weekend unfolding under bright concert lights and crowded festival grounds. The opening days brought performances, portraits, and field scenes that showed the event in motion across Friday and Saturday. This photo gallery, curated by photo editors, focuses on the people and acts that defined the first weekend of the coachella valley music and arts festival.
First weekend moments from the field
Images from Indio show KATSEYE performing on Friday, April 10, 2026, with Megan Skiendiel, Daniela Avanzini, Yoonchae Jeong, Lara Raj, and Sophia Laforteza on stage. Other photos capture festivalgoers moving through the grounds, a portrait of David Lee Roth, and performances by Sombr, Lizzo with Sexyy Red, and Slayyyter across the first weekend.
The visual range also includes scenes from the Do LaB stage on Saturday, April 11, 2026, giving a closer look at the festival atmosphere beyond the main performances. The coachella valley music and arts festival is presented here as both a music event and a visual story, with fashion, crowds, and stage moments sharing equal space.
What the gallery shows about Coachella’s return
The gallery reflects the festival’s return to the Empire Polo Club for its 25th edition, a milestone noted in the event coverage from Indio. It also shows how the first weekend is being documented through photojournalism, with editorial focus on live performances and the people filling the grounds.
Christina House, a staff photojournalist with the Los Angeles Times, and Kayla Bartkowski, a photojournalism fellow with the Los Angeles Times, are among the credited visual journalists tied to the broader festival photography coverage. Their work places the coachella valley music and arts festival in a wider frame of crowd energy, performance scale, and the distinctive field-level experience.
Context from the festival floor
The festival coverage notes that the event returns for its 25th anniversary, with twin weekends and a sold-out crowd. The broader lineup described in the coverage includes Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G as headliners, with more than 100 acts on the bill.
The same coverage also points to a larger mix of art, fashion, and live music, all of which shape the festival’s visual identity. That is why the coachella valley music and arts festival continues to produce images that move quickly from stage performances to crowd scenes and back again.
What’s next at Coachella
More images are expected as the twin weekends continue, with additional performances, art installations, and crowd scenes likely to define the coming days. For now, the first weekend has already delivered a strong visual record of the coachella valley music and arts festival, with the next set of photo moments still to come in Indio.
