Coachella 2026 highlights: Big stars, buzzing energy, and the power of millennial nostalgia | Stormy year Coachella

eEven in the best of times, Coachella can be a heavy lift — a long drive, possibly even longer lines, and, if you do it right, very long days of hopping between live music sets under the intense desert sun. Every year, North America’s largest music festival generates a round of hype and disdain in almost equal measure for good reason — the high prices, the deluge of annoying social media, and the overwhelming sentiment of influencer culture. And yet, believers keep coming back (and atheists keep listening online), paying as little as $649 for a three-day pass or a label deal to see what is still the country’s most expansive and comprehensive music catalog, a truly exciting mix of up-and-comers seeking a standout set and had-to-be-there moments like, say, the return of Justin Bieber…

While Peppercella dominated much of the on-ground conversation this year — his simple but adequate headliner on Saturday drew perhaps the largest crowd in the festival’s history — Coachella 2026 offered ample scope for those uninterested in the return of the millennial icon. Coachella is perhaps the only thing in America currently safe from actual inflation – there was no increase in ticket prices this year, although I imagine more than half of the attendees are, as was the case last year, on payment plans. But the inflation mentality prevails. After the so-called flop era two years ago, when disappointing billing led to the slowest ticket sales in more than a decade, the festival has returned to a format that dominates the conversation with a more-is-more approach: more international artists catering to more potential attendees; more infrastructure (a new underground movie theater, The Bunker, was designed specifically for the audio-visual experience of Radiohead’s Kid A Mnesia); Further investment in an impressive live streaming operation, as the festival continues its transformation from an in-person experience to a global event/brand; More surprise DJ bookings – Romy xx! John Summit! – which overflowed the EDM-heavy Do LaB.

More importantly, at least to keep the buzz online and off: more surprise guest spots that spark nostalgia or just straight-up headliners. David Guetta, whose Saturday night set pushed the cavernous Desert Tent beyond its capacity, brought out JLo for her song Save Me Tonight. The day before, Katseye had drawn a larger crowd — the largest ever in the southeast corner, according to some longtime attendees — that extended beyond the reach of the speakers, for a set that attracted mixed reviews even from the faithful but raves for its inclusion of Kpop Demon Hunters’ Hunter/x. Earlier that day, soul singer Teddy Swims catered to millennial nostalgia by featuring Joe Jonas and Vanessa Carlton. Lizzo appeared on “Sexyy Red,” Camila Cabello appeared on a remix of “Havana” with Young Thug, and Diplo provided Major Lazer MIA to audible gasps for a raucous rendition of “Paper Planes,” the 2008 smash they co-produced.

More Instagram activations, too, as Coachella skews corporate more than ever — I get the popular Aperol Spritz tent and a long line for cosmetics, but why an Alaska Airlines pop-up? Attending Coachella means strolling around a grown-up Disneyland that is both an escapist fantasy and a microcosm of the brutal hierarchical economy—no matter how much space and condescension one finds, someone is always going to have a more comfortable, more exclusive, and more social media-worthy experience than you. Celebrities have certainly been making waves, for better (Hailey Bieber, beaming with pride) and for worse (whatever high school fantasy Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are living out). But unless you’re sitting at the VIP gate hoping to catch a glimpse of Jacob Elordi rolling with the Jenner/Chalamet crew, you won’t see them behind the VIP tiers. Even some big logistical challenges — the cancellation of Italian DJ Anyma’s late-Friday concert due to high winds, a crowd choke after Bieber that left me stranded for about 30 minutes, a speaker who fell on a woman and Do LaB shut down Friday night (reportedly fine) — didn’t affect the feeling that Coachella is a well-oiled machine pushing full steam ahead.

Coachella’s reputation as a haven is such that politics are largely unmentioned, outside of platitudes about peace and unity and some anarchic comedy from the Strokes frontman and the last true rock star, Julian Casablancas. “Are you guys excited about the draft?” he asked a confused crowd during his hard rock set Saturday night. “Oh, wait, not the NFL draft. I think in six months, everyone will have to sign up for the military. Are you guys excited?” (Answer: No.) Sunday’s headliner Karol G, the first Latina to headline the festival in 27 years, offered an implicitly political celebration of Latinx pride and American unity that nods to the current anti-ICE crackdown in the United States, but beyond some notable rebukes — Indie band Wednesday’s Carly Hartzman declares “Fuck ICE and Free Palestine” at the end of their set, and David Byrne features images of anti-ICE protests on his song Life “During wartime” – Coachella remained a strangely sterile area. It is, after all, a festival quietly run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group, whose owner, right-wing billionaire Philip Anschutz, funnels money to several Republican political organizations.

However, the necessary side-eye aside, the festival once again provided an amazing array of quality entertainment and enjoyment, starting with artists determined to bring their best to a festival that could supercharge their careers (just ask Chapelle Rouen). I nearly fainted from hitting in the heat to Slayyyter’s pop set Screamo, which started the festival on a raucous note with an unusually large crowd in the Friday 3pm slot; Reaching another dimension to Nine Inch Noize’s (Nine Inch Nails + Boys Noize) subterranean, bringing together the bass in their first-ever full-length collection; It almost hit the ceiling when Jack White played Seven Nation Army to a crushing crowd (his rock star intro of “Don’t Ask Me No Questions and I’ll Tell You No Lies” immediately enters my vocabulary) and was tempered with the brilliant improvisation of studio wizard Dijon, backed by modern guitar god Mk.gee.

While hip-hop seems to have been downplayed in this year’s bookings, the festival has continued to expand beyond its base of electronic and rock music toward pop music, which is broadly interpreted — the cotton candy of Addison Rae, the ravishing runescape of French electronic artist Oklo, the tight dancing of Benny, the first all-Filipino group to perform at the festival, and the innovative, unique performance art of FKA Twigs. But it hasn’t lost its touch with its rock roots, thanks to current buzzy punk-cross acts like Turnstile and Gen Z Breakout Geese, the latter of which ended its explosive and cheeky set with the crowd chanting Trinidad’s crazy, popular hook: “There’s a bomb in my car!!!” Once again, Coachella booked a stellar lineup of veteran artists: Iggy Pop, a shirtless and energetic 78-year-old, who held an all-ages concert Sunday night; electronic pioneer Moby, who led a wildly enthusiastic crowd through his “rave anthem” at the first Coachella festival in 1999; Fat Boy Slim, who DJed Sunday night at Quasar, prompted a college kid to ask me, incredulously, “Who is this artist?!”

It can be hard to get real emotional moments at a festival that can increasingly feel soulless and fun-loving, but Coachella wouldn’t survive without its signature magic. I found some late Sunday night, as Karol G was wrapping up her set with a bang on the main stage, amid screams of delight from several Spanish speakers who knew every word to her lead set. The fireworks, pyrotechnics and confetti were a fitting cap for three 12-hour days and too many wonderful beat drops to count. Recession signs may abound, but Coachella is betting on more.