Coachella 2026 Kicks Off Friday with Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G

Festival season is here. The first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival begins this afternoon at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, running through Sunday before returning the following weekend for round two.

Headliners this weekend are Sabrina Carpenter on Friday, Justin Bieber on Saturday, and Karol G on Sunday.

Campers got an early start Thursday when the polo grounds opened its gates, and organizers say traffic was noticeably lighter than in past years thanks to a second entry point added this season. That relief may be short-lived, though. General festival gates open at 1 p.m. today, and the valley's roads will feel it.

Each Friday through Monday of both festival weekends, full road closures will be in effect on Avenue 49 between Hjorth and Monroe streets, Avenue 50 between Madison and Jackson streets, Hjorth Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 50, and Madison Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 52. Beyond those closures, the heaviest congestion will concentrate on Jefferson and Monroe streets from the interstate down to the polo grounds. Washington Street, particularly near the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, will also be a bottleneck early in the weekend as attendees stop there to pick up wristbands and catch shuttle buses. That activity tends to taper off as the weekend goes on.

Plan for slow-moving traffic on all three main corridors, Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe, from roughly 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day. That's when concertgoers start making their way from hotels and vacation rentals toward the evening sets. Avenue 48, Highway 111, and routes south toward Avenue 52 or Avenue 54 are all solid alternatives during those hours.

Once the shows wrap up, expect heavy outbound traffic from around midnight to 3 a.m. each night as tens of thousands of people make their way back.