Sabrina Carpenter revives spirit of Old Hollywood with Coachella set featuring Susan Saradon, Will Ferrell, and men dressed as dogs

Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter has headlined the first weekend of Coachella 2026, tapping into the spirit of Old Hollywood with a star-studded set.

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Last night (April 10), the pop star topped the bill at this year’s edition of the Californian festival, taking to the main stage after previously promising to return as its headliner in a ‘Nonsense’ outro from her 2024 performance.

Before she stepped foot on stage, she opened the set with a black-and-white video intro that followed her as she sped through the desert before being stopped by a police officer played by Landman actor Sam Elliott.

Arriving on the festival grounds in a vintage car, she walked along a Walk of Fame-inspired catwalk to a set featuring the rocky structures of the Hollywood Hills, later invoking Some Like It Hot and Dirty Dancing after erecting a huge “Sabrinawood” sign.

She kicked things off with ‘House Tour’ – which recently received its own music video starring Carpenter, Madelyn Cline, and Margaret Qualley – then ‘Taste’ and ‘Busy Woman’. Later, dancers dressed as poodles appeared and were gleefully walked around the set for ‘Manchild’.

In keeping up with the Hollywood vibe, Susan Sarandon delivered a reflective monologue about show business in a vehicle while Carpenter briefly stepped off stage before launching into ‘Go Go Juice’.

Will Ferrell also made a guest appearance, playing a disgruntled electrician who was called to fix a stage lighting outage, while Carpenter’s Girl Meets World co-star Corey Fogelmanis played a waiter, and the voice of Samuel L. Jackson as a “spiritual guide” rang out.