Hundreds of musicians and thousands of music lovers are heading out West today. The first of two Coachella weekends is officially starting, with nearly 200 acts gearing up to perform from one of seven different stages over the course of the next three days.
This weekend is a particularly special moment in Coachella’s 23-year history, as this year marks the first time the festival is up and running again since being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19-related concerns.
The two-year lead up means this year’s lineup of musicians is especially excited to perform in the sandy California desert. Megan Thee Stallion, for instance, is considering playing an unreleased song during her headlining set on Saturday (April 16), tweeting last week: “I got this song that I recorded and every time I play it for a woman they start jumping and clapping. I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it.”
Also getting pumped for the big show is The Weeknd, who will perform with Swedish House Mafia; he joined the festival’s roster at the last minute when Kanye West dropped out. “We’re back home this Sunday,” he tweeted, sharing pictures from his 2018 Coachella set.
