This year’s edition of the infamous music festival Coachella, dubbed as an “influencer fest”, kicked off on April 10th, 2026. The event hosted three headliners who were to perform on both weekends of the event: Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and KAROL G.
Set at the infamous Empire Polo Club in Indio, located in the Colorado Desert of Southern California, fans flocked to the festival to see over 130 acts over the event’s two-weekend long run. The headliners performed at the festival’s Main Stage and drew enormous crowds both in-person and on Coachella’s online live stream.
Bieber made his first major appearance at the festival this year as the Saturday headliner. His set was marked by a blend of old nostalgic songs like “Baby” and new hits, including “YUKON” and “Speed Demon”. Sparking an almost-immediate influx of emotions from viewers–including those from CDNIS students who watched miles away online–was Bieber’s decision to mirror a laptop screen on stage to play his early hits via YouTube and his decision to interact with the live stream chat. In that moment, Coachella’s identity on the internet was transformed. Fans of Bieber, better known as “Beliebers” online, began calling the event “Bieberchella”, signifying the immense success of Bieber’s performance that weekend.
“I would trade 15 years of my life to have gone to Coachella this year. It’s safe to say that I am overwhelmed with Belieber FOMO.” – Clara V, Grade 11 student and avid Belieber
Fast forward to the second weekend of Coachella, Bieber brought out special guest Billie Eilish during his performance of “One Less Lonely Girl” and SZA for a duet of “Snooze”. These performances fueled even more praise online, and more importantly, charted seven of Bieber’s albums simultaneously on the Billboard Top 200 for the first time.
“We cannot BELIEBE that we weren’t at Bieberchella. Our invites to the festival might have gotten lost in the mail…” – Shaun W and Ethan S, Grade 11 students
This year also marked pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s debut headliner performance at Coachella. During her performance at the festival in 2024, Carpenter jokingly ended her set with “see you back here when I headline!” Two years later, she has done just that.
Carpenter’s spectacle of a performance turned the Main Stage into “SABRINAWOOD” with the set referencing the glamourous nature of Hollywood and her evident takeover of California during Coachella weekend. Her set included hits like “House Tour”, “Espresso”, and “Taste”. Carpenter also entertained the crowd by performing songs from her most recent album “Man’s Best Friend” for the first time. Not only that, but her set was graced with a parade of special guests including Terry Crews, Will Ferrell, and Madonna over both weekends.
Bieber’s nostalgic-yet-modern set sparked viral moments online, whilst Carpenter’s high-energy performances made Main Stage feel unmistakably hers. Even as the festival comes to an end, students are far from recovering from Bieber Fever, proving Coachella 2026 to be a standout success.
