It’s officially day one of the first weekend of the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and our reporters are back in the desert to bring you updates from the Empire Polo Club in Indio all weekend long.
The three-day festival is bringing together a variety of performers including headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G.
Here are some Coachella highlights so far. We’ll also be bringing you live updates from the festival all weekend long on our TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Additionally, you can follow our team on social media to get even more Coachella updates.
Holly Alvarado: @Rooted.withHolly on TikTok, Instagram and Threads
Carolyn Burt: @carolynburt on Threads/Instagram and @carolyn.burt on TikTok
Peter Larsen: @bypeterlarsen on TikTok, Instagram and Threads
Charlie Vargas: @_charlievargas on TikTok and @charlievargas_ on Instagram
Day Zero – Friday, April 9
Before the festival even begins, the party kicks off at the campgrounds. For those who stay on site, the day before Coachella is spent getting tents set up, bonding with neighbors and mentally preparing for the weekend. But beneath the usual excitement, there was a noticeable shift this year. For many campers, this wasn’t just about tradition or convenience. It was about cost and finding something unexpectedly better on the other side of it.
Coachella 2026: Why more campers are choosing community over hotels
Day One – Friday, April 10
The high for the first day of the festival was 91° with a wind advisory in place. The breeze helped to keep festival goers cool during the day.
Coachella 2026: Wind, cooler temperatures expected for Weekend 1
One of the first notable acts for the day was the Bob Baker Marionettes at the Gobi Tent. Attendees caught the puppet troupe perform to various songs including a cover of “Diet Pepsi” by Ben Platt.
Elsewhere in the festival, Filipino girl group BINI performed in the Mojave Tent. The area was packed with fans listening to the groups hits. The band was formed in 2019 on Star Hunt Academy, a televised idol training program. The group had also become a talking point on social media leading up to the festival as fans of the artist began commenting in droves on videos from festival goers, telling them they needed to go see BINI perform at Coachella.
Teddy Swims brought out multiple surprise artists on the main stage during his set. First it was Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers to sing one of the bands hits from 2008 “When You Look Me in the Eyes.” Next, Vanessa Carlton joined Swims on stage to perform her classic “A Thousand Miles.” And the final surprise of the set was David Lee Roth, former lead singer of Van Halen, to perform one of the band’s classic’s “Jump.”
One of the fun things to do on the festival grounds in between performances is visit the various activations to get freebies and enjoy fun experiences. Here’s our guide to all of the brand booths at Coachella, as well as some others you can find nearby.
Coachella 2026: Your guide to brand activations, freebies at the festival
WATCH COACHELLA PERFORMANCES FROM HOME
If you’re not at Coachella this weekend, but want to partake in “Couchella,” you’re in luck because the festival will stream performances from seven stages on the Coachella Livestream app and its YouTube channel. Here are all the performances you can livestream for Coachella Weekend 1 as well as times each of the artists will be on stage.