FRAZER HARRISONGETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICAGetty Images via AFP
Music fans were descending on California's Coachella Valley for the premier arts festival, which begins Friday and features headliners Lady Gaga, Green Day, and Post Malone.
The opening day promises to be a scorcher, quite literally; a dome of high pressure is triggering a mini heat wave in southern California, with meteorologists predicting the temperature could crack 37.8 degrees Celsius.
Organizers are urging the tens of thousands expected to arrive at the poorly shaded festival grounds to stay hydrated and use sunscreen as they gather to see other highlights of the day-one lineup, including rapper Missy Elliott, Australian electropop band Parcels, and a rare stateside appearance from British punk ravers The Prodigy.
The sprawling desert weekend marks the unofficial start of music festival season, which Lady Gaga is priming to kick off with a bang. Fresh off the release of her latest album, "Mayhem," the pop superstar has vowed "a massive night of chaos."
When the lineup was announced, she posted, "I can't wait to hear you all singalong and dance dance DANCE till we drop. "
South African star Tyla is also slated to perform on Friday, one year after an injury forced her to withdraw from the 2024 festival.
"Had many opportunities to go but swore to myself that the first time I go to Coachella, imma be performing... and look now!" she wrote on X when the lineups were announced last year.
Blackpink's Lisa—fresh off a role in HBO's hit show "White Lotus"—will perform on her own Friday night, having twice taken the Coachella stage with her bandmates.
Later in the weekend, Charli XCX is expected to turn the grounds her signature "brat" green after a blockbuster year that saw her latest album propel her to new echelons of fame.
Travis Scott will play a special guest slot following Green Day's Saturday set. This comes years after the hip-hop performer was slated to headline the 2020 festival, which was ultimately scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fresh off a Grammy win, Venezuelan band Rawayana is primed to play a top slot on Saturday.
And celebrity conductor Gustavo Dudamel will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a sunset concert.
Hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion will helm the main stage Sunday ahead of Post Malone's headlining performance, with Ty Dolla $ign also set to perform.
Also on Sunday French duo Polo & Pan will bring their tropicalia-infused electro set back to the Coachella Valley.
German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk and Shaboozey and Benson Boone, two of the 2025 Best New Artist Grammy nominees, are another draw.
While Coachella has leaned decidedly pop over the past decade, the 2025 edition will return to the festival's rock roots.
Along with Green Day, rock acts including The Go-Gos, the original Misfits, Jimmy Eat World, and cult punk legends the Circle Jerks are slated to play.
"In this world gone sideways we know one thing for certain — rock 'n' roll is forever, and its spirit is needed now more than ever," said Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong earlier this year in Billboard.
Coachella 2025 will take place on April 11-13 and 18-20.
© Agence France-Presse
