It all started in 1993 when the rock band Pearl Jam was looking for an alternative venue that was not controlled by Ticketmaster, which it was boycotting at the time.
The Empire Polo Club, a desert oasis in the Coachella Valley in California, hosted approximately 25,000 people for its event, inspiring promoters to hold an outdoor festival at the same location.
In October 1999, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was born as an alternative to the unruly and chaotic Woodstock festival of a few months earlier. The event featured global acts ranging from Rage Against the Machine to the Chemical Brothers and Morrissey. Despite its success, the promoters lost money.
But two years later, Coachella returned on an annual basis, and in its 26 years running it has been one of the largest and most influential outdoor music festivals on Earth. About 125,000 people attend the event daily over consecutive three-day weekends. Coachella’s expansive main stage has hosted pop and rock royalty from Beyoncé to Madonna, Prince, Drake, Lady Gaga, Radiohead and Harry Styles.
This year, pop superstars Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber will headline the 2026 festival, starting on April 10.
Influencers divert fans’ attention from music
At recent Coachella festivals, social media influencers have been using the event to launch their own brands or fashion trends – while the actual performances are left behind.
according to Diversity magazine, which interviewed 100 festival-goers in 2025. Young people are less attracted to music than to the broader atmosphere. About 66% of participants said they attended the festival not for the music, but for the “experience” – especially the costumes.
The festival grounds have become a giant billboard for corporate brands to sell and promote their products, including Heineken, Amex and Neutrogena, which were especially visible during last year’s event.
But people celebrating the festival are retreating. According to UK online news site, london standardAn American survey found that 75% of respondents claimed that “Coachella’s musical purpose” has been “overshadowed” by influencers, while 68% of participants condemned the corporatization of the event.
These concerns were heightened by the intense controversy surrounding the 2025 event, when logistical failures forced many festival-goers to queue for up to 12 hours to get in. There were also inadequate numbers of portable toilets. It was also reported that singer Rihanna declined a headline slot – as did rapper Kendrick Lamar, who said he was already booked, leading some to declare that the festival’s cultural capital could be spent.
Critics point to lack of diversity
Critics have long criticized Coachella’s lack of artistic diversity. The first time a Black female artist headlined the festival was in 2018, when Beyoncé performed – nearly two decades after Coachella was founded.
At this year’s festival, Karol G. will become the first Latina artist to headline the event. Meanwhile, it’s long been speculated that the Instagram-friendly fun and glamor of Coachella has a dark side.
In 2018, it was reported that Philip Anschutz, the billionaire owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns and operates Coachella, had donated money to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, anti-abortion activists, and climate change deniers. Anschutz denied the claims, calling them “fake news”. However, there were loud calls by celebrities such as English model, Cara Delevingne to boycott the festival.
And while the Coachella festival is said to generate more than $100 million (€86 million) in revenue per year, the reality looks very different for thousands of Latino farmworkers in the area, with nearly 40% of them living in poverty, according to Los Angeles Times.
But despite all this, the 2026 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival sold out again.
Edited by: Jennifer Neal