FOMO Comes 6 Months Early As Coachella 2026 Sells out.
Every spring, music lovers descend on the sun-drenched desert of Indio, CA, braving the heat in trendy (and often uncomfortable) festival wear to experience performances by the biggest names in music. Coachella, which has been hosting two-weekend shows since 2002, has earned its reputation for being the largest and most influential music festival in the country. Over 200k people attend every year, which is 10k more per day than Lollapalooza and over 100k more than Bonnaroo despite taking place in a smaller venue.
After multiple years of post-pandemic, record-low sales, Coachella 2026 has sold out within three days. The April festival, which usually announces their lineup in January, surprised fans by releasing tickets and the star-studded headliners on September 19th, four months ahead of schedule. The festival posted “She’s gone, dance on. See you in April” on Monday night, after all 250k tickets were sold out. The quick sellout was surely due to the promoter Goldenvoice, which has had trouble selling tickets for opening weekend in the past, even having some general admission tickets leftover. This year, general admission tickets began at $549 and VIP tickets at nearly $1,300. Potential attendees that didn’t purchase a ticket quick enough have joined several waitlists to see if anything becomes available before the big weekend.
The return to pre-pandemic sales is an extreme comeback for the festival. Many say the reason for this turnaround is the lineup, which Coachella released months in advance. The first headliner — to nobody’s surprise— is Sabrina Carpenter, who will start off the performances on April 10th and April 17th. The pop star recently released her seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, with the track Manchild instantly becoming a viral sensation. The success of the album falls in line with other highly-praised releases like Please Please Please and Espresso, making her presence at Coachella a no-brainer. Funnily enough, Carpenter predicted her Coachella headliner status during her performance in 2022. While singing the outro to Nonsense, she told the crowd, “See you back here when I headline.” Coachella even used this footage when they announced the 2026 lineup on social media.
Headlining on April 11th and 18th will be Justin Bieber. The 2026 festival will be his first large-scale performance in over three years, which fans have been eagerly awaiting. With his latest album release, Swag, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in July, Bieber’s comeback is in full swing.
Finally, on April 12th and 19th, the infamous Karol G will take the main stage. She recently made history as the first Latina woman awarded the honor of Woman of the Year at the Billboard Women in Music gala, and her Coachella 2026 headline performance will be the first by a Latina artist. Her set will be a historic return for the Colombian star, who last performed at Coachella in 2022.
Coachella 2026 will be the first time any of the three scheduled artists will have headlined the festival, and the excitement to witness history is unquestionable considering the lack of available tickets. Other notable performers include Disclosure, Addison Rae, Blood Orange, The Strokes, and Ethel Cain. The full festival lineup has been met with mixed reviews from fans, with some saying it’s suspicious and others calling it boring or even terrible. Considering Coachella hasn’t been sold out in over three years, it’s clear the majority of music fans are ready to race to the desert come this April, terrible lineup or not.