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INDIO, Calif. — Sabrina Carpenter took the desert main stage just after 9 p.m. Friday night and officially opened the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, launching the pop star’s much-anticipated headlining debut at the sold-out festival and kicking off a three-day weekend that will also see Justin Bieber and Colombian superstar Karol G cap the main stage — with Karol G making history as the first Latina artist ever to headline Coachella.

The festival, which sold out in less than a week when tickets went on sale last fall, returns for its 25th edition with a lineup that crosses pop, reggaeton, K-pop and electronic music, and that organizers say skews younger and more global than any previous edition. Weekend one runs through Sunday, April 12, with an identical lineup scheduled to repeat for weekend two from April 17 to 19.

Sabrina Carpenter Opens The Festival

For Carpenter, 26, the Friday night slot represents the biggest stage of a career that has rocketed skyward since her 2024 breakthrough album propelled her from Disney Channel alum to Grammy-winning pop A-lister. She opened the set in a glittering gold two-piece under a cascade of confetti, launching into her signature single “Espresso” before running through a roughly 90-minute set that spanned her discography and included a pair of special guests whose identities were kept under wraps until the moment they appeared.

The crowd — estimated by festival staff at roughly 125,000 on the festival grounds — sang every word. Social media lit up immediately after the opening notes, with “Sabrina at Coachella” trending worldwide on X within minutes of the set’s start.

“This is the biggest night of my life,” Carpenter told the crowd midway through her set. “Thank you for making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”

Justin Bieber Returns

Saturday night will belong to Justin Bieber, who headlines a Coachella main stage for the first time in his career after more than 15 years as one of the most commercially dominant pop artists on the planet. Bieber, 32, is expected to take the stage at 11:25 p.m. and is reportedly planning a set packed with both new material and a nostalgic trip through the hits that defined his career — from “Baby” to “Sorry” to “Peaches.”

The booking is something of a comeback moment for the Canadian superstar, who in recent years has stepped back from touring to focus on his family and on what he has publicly described as his mental health. Bieber’s return to a stage the size of Coachella — watched live by well over 100,000 fans on the ground and a livestream audience likely numbering in the tens of millions — is expected to be among the weekend’s most talked-about moments.