Yesterday marked the start of the first weekend of Coachella, as the 2026 iteration of the California music festival drew its usual massive number of audiophiles/partying-in-a-desertphiles down to Indio. The draws for the evening’s festivities included a headlining show from Sabrina Carpenter, who gave young fans of her music exactly what they obviously want when they drop large chunks of their disposable income to take a trip to “Sabrinawood”: Appearances from noted character actor Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon, and comedian Will Ferrell.
Per BBC News, the heavily mustachioed Elliott made a video cameo as part of the opening of Carpenter’s headliner set, appearing in a short film before she busted out on stage with hits like “Please Please Please.” And also, apparently, Sarandon and Ferrell were there, with the Dead Man Walking star delivering an impassioned (and apparently very long) monologue where she played an older version of Carpenter reflecting on the plight of young celebrity actors (like the pop star, who paid her dues down in the Disney mines) to cover a costume change. Ferrell, meanwhile, came out a little while later to do a bit where he played an annoyed stage tech who had to fix the power for Carpenter’s set. Because… they are both people from Hollywood, and that was sort of the theme?
If Carpenter wanted serious star power, though, she missed out: That was happening over on the stage of reality show-produced girl group Katseye, who were joined for their set by recent Oscar winners Huntr/x (a.k.a. KPop Demon Hunter vocal stars Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami) to perform their recent Best Song winner “Golden.” (We’re just saying: It’s been thirty full years since Sarandon scored an Oscar win, so who’s really bringing the Hollywood star power to bear?)
But the most impactful surprise guest at this year’s Coachella may end up being everybody’s favorite party crasher, the wind. The Coachella valley is currently under an advisory for windblown dust, and air quality in the area has been rated as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Most notably, at least one set has been canceled so far due to the weather, as a late-night performance from EDM artist Anyma was canceled on Friday night, due to “strong wind conditions affecting Anyma’s stage build.” (Looking around, we don’t see any evidence that Anyma like to perform surrounded by windmills or loose napkins resting gently on picnic tables, but there are reports that Indio winds are hitting as high as 50 miles an hour overnight, so we certainly understand the caution.)
Coachella continues through this weekend and the next; Justin Bieber and Karol G are headlining the Saturday and Sunday night schedules.