Coachella 2023 was as impactful as it was surprising. Between historic headline shows, Boygenius using their stage to send a message, new music from Frank Ocean, and incredible on-stage collaborations, this was a festival for the books.

One of the highlights from this year’s Coachella is definitely the amount of surprise guest stars. Becky G brought out J-Hope of BTS, Troye Sivan performed with Charli XCX, and Kaytranada was joined by not one, but three musicians — Tinashe, H.E.R., and Anderson .Paak. Rosalía brought out her fiancé Rauw Alejandro, Boygenius surprised MUNA’s audience for “Silk Chiffon”, and Jaden Smith joined WILLOW. The highlight of Coachella for many of its attendees was certainly Zendaya’s appearance during Labrinth’s set. The two sang “I’m Tired” and “All For Us” during Zendaya’s first live performance in seven years.

The first Latin music artist ever to headline Coachella, Bad Bunny made history in more ways than one. Between speaking to the audience in Spanish, playing videos on the history of Puerto Rican and Latin music between songs, and surprising the crowd with guests Jhay Cortez and Post Malone (yes, more guest stars!), Bad Bunny stole the show. He even used the stage to publicly apologise to Harry Styles for an accidental diss the weekend before.

In 2019, BLACKPINK was Coachella’s first K-pop act, and this year saw them as the festival’s first K-pop headliners. High energy and unparalleled pop performances, various costume changes including custom Mugler looks, and an emotional closing moment defined their sets, which had audiences up on their feet.

Using their platforms for social justice, both The Linda Lindas and Boygenius spoke out against gun violence and anti-transgender bills. Acknowledging the current political climate, Boygenius’ Lucy Dacus spoke up for trans rights during an inspiring speech: “I don’t know if you’ve been checking the news and seeing what’s been going on in Florida and Missouri and some of the other places, but trans lives matter, trans kids matter. We’re going to fight it and we’re going to win.”

Coachella is not a new spot for artists to release or announce new music. Last year, Harry Styles famously performed the previously unreleased tracks “Late Night Talking” and “Boyfriends”, and Carly Rae Jepsen debuted “Western Wind”. This year was no different, with a new track from MUNA, “One That Got Away”, and a special announcement from Frank Ocean. Although his set was cut short and he had to cancel his second headline set due to injuries, he still got fans talking about what is to come from the beloved artist. “I wanna talk about why I’m here, ‘cause it’s not because of a new album — not that there’s not a new album,” he teases. Between singing two unreleased songs and hinting at his new album, he has made us eager for more information.