April 10 marks another year of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, one of the most recognized music festivals in the world, held in the California desert in Indio. This year’s festival took place over two back-to-back weekends, Friday through Sunday. Across both weekends, hundreds of thousands of attendees gathered in the desert for one of the most talked-about cultural events of the year.
What originally began in 1999 as a smaller alternative music festival has now turned into a global event that blends music, fashion, celebrity culture and social media into one space. Coachella was founded by Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival co-founder Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen through the concert promotion company Goldenvoice. The festival was initially created as a response to major touring artists avoiding certain venues and aimed to highlight alternative, indie, and emerging rock artists, along with electric and experimental music that was less represented in mainstream festivals at the time. While Coachella was one known mainly for showcasing underground and alternative acts, it has grown into a festival that now includes some of the biggest names in music, attracting worldwide attention before, during and after each weekend.
Over the years, Coachella has hosted some of the most iconic performances in festival history. Artists such as Beyonce, Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Lady Gaga and so many more have taken the stage with performances that often go beyond music and turn into cultural moments. Surprise guests, viral clips and highly produced stage setups have made Coachella known for more than just its lineup. It’s truly known for what happens when those artists step on stage.
“If I went to Coachella this year, I would’ve loved to see Justin Bieber because he has been such an icon for years,” Brooke Poschl ‘26 said. “He hasn’t had a true performance in a long time so seeing him would be really cool.”
In reality, the scale of Coachella is much larger than what is often seen in short clips online. This festival brings in roughly 125,000 attendees per day, totalling 250,000 people across both weekends. While social media often highlights perfectly styled outfits and aesthetic photos, the experience includes long lines, crowded walkways, extreme desert heat during the day and hours of standing between and during performances.
This year continued that pattern, with both weekends generating nonstop conversation online. Clips from performances spread across social media within minutes, and certain sets quickly became the most replayed moments of the entire festival. Since Coachella is split into two weekends, many performances from Weekend one are shared and discussed online before Weekend Two even begins, with fans already reacting, ranking, and analyzing standout moments.
“I would say that Coachella is more about the social media aspect because everyone watching the performer is online and not in person,” Megan Knudson ‘26 said. “Coachella is definitely more of a social marker meaning that if you are able to go you most likely have a higher status or following.”
Beyond the performances, Coachella has become heavily shaped by influencers and online personalities who document the festival in real time. Creators like James Charles have become closely associated with the event, posting full vlogs, “get ready with me” videos and daily outfit breakdowns that reach millions of viewers. For many people, especially those not attending, Coachella is experienced almost entirely through these videos. From morning routines in rental houses to nighttime clips packed down with crowds and performances, influencers often show both the curated and chaotic sides of the festival. Big influencers like Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, Leah Hilton and so many more creators share the behind-the-scenes content each year that has helped redefine what Coachella looks like, turning it into something that exists just as much online as it does in the desert.
“People definitely focus more on everything around the performances now, like the outfits, influencers, and the whole aesthetic,” Autumn Hall ‘27 said. “Obviously the music still matters, but it feels like a lot of people care more about the vibe, photos and who’s there instead of just the artists on stage.”
Even so, Coachella continues to serve as an important stage for artists, especially newer performers who use the festival to reach massive audiences across both weekends. A single performance can quickly turn into millions of views online, helping shape an artist’s rise in the industry almost overnight.
Looking at both weekends of this year’s festival, it becomes clear that Coachella is no longer a three-day event. It’s a two-weekend cultural moment that influences music, fashion and online trends all at once. From Friday afternoon sets to Sunday night headliners, the festival continues to define what feels relevant in pop culture each year.
In a time where trends change quickly and attention is constantly shifting online, Coachella remains as one of the few events that is universally shared. Whether someone is in the desert or watching from their phone, the festival continues to create moments that last through conversations long after the festival ends.
Because of this, Coachella has become less about a single performance and more about the way it is presented and consumed online, where influencers, viral clips, and carefully curated content shape how millions of people understand the festival without ever attending.
