The Coachella music festival has kicked off with surprise guest actor Susan Sarandon featuring in pop star Sabrina Carpenter's headlining performance on Friday. The actor delivered a monologue as an older version of 26-year-old Carpenter in the middle of her set. Other stars who featured in the singer's classic Hollywood-themed gig were comedian Will Ferrell and actor Sam Elliott.
This year, the massive festival in the California desert draws more than 100,000 people daily over two weekends, according to police from the city of Indio. However, weather agencies have warned of wind and dust in the area, which forced the festival to cancel a set by DJ Anyma after Carpenter's performance.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival announced on Instagram, Due to strong wind conditions affecting Anyma's stage build, he is unable to perform tonight. Coachella and Anyma have made this decision together with your safety as the priority. The National Weather Service had anticipated wind gusts of around 25 miles per hour on Friday.
An air quality advisory was also issued due to windblown dust that could pose health risks, particularly for sensitive groups. Despite this, Carpenter's set marked an impressive start to the festival, where she created a Hollywood Hills theme, amusingly dubbing it Sabrinawood.
She began her act with a short film where she was stopped by Elliott, who pretended to be a cop, leading to her stage entrance. Later, Ferrell joined her onstage under the guise of an electrician. Other performances on Friday included the global girl group KATSEYE and British artist Disclosure.
On Saturday, Justin Bieber will headline the festival, followed by Karol G on Sunday. A number of UK artists, including Wet Leg, Lambrini Girls, Little Simz, and FKA Twigs, are also part of this year's lineup, which will repeat next weekend. The festival, held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, has been a staple since its inception in 2002.
