The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival wrapped its final day on Sunday, April 20, but the festival’s bittersweet ending is less high school graduation and more summer break.
While festival headliners won’t be returning like a graduating class would, there will be new incoming performers akin to the freshman, who will likely showcase what’s to come in next year’s best music.
To commemorate the end of Coachella weekend two memories at the festival, our team put together a list of awards. In no particular order, here are the high school yearbook categories for the final weekend of Coachella.
Most likely to showcase an art gallery
The Marías had spectacular performances for both weekends of Coachella that included a stage production that fit the artsy vibe of the Los Angeles pop band. There were picture-perfect moments of navy blue skies; and gold sunrise encompassed what The Marías’ music would look like if it manifested itself into material form. If anyone is going to showcase an art gallery, it’d be them, whose albums and music videos are a well-thought-out curated color palette that is an art form in its own right.
Most likely to heal your inner child
When Yo Gabba Gabba took the stage at the Mojave tent, it wasn’t just the kids celebrating; the adults were there having a blast too. There’s just something so silly about having grown adults enthusiastically singing along to “Party in My Tummy,” “Get the Sillies Out,” and “Don’t Bite Your Friends.” Yo Gabba Gabba’s performance was a reminder to all the people at Coachella who needed a break from the seriousness to chuckle, laugh, and remember what it was like to feel like a kid again.
Most likely to steal your heart
Forget about dreamy rock stars or super good-looking influencers walking around Coachella, because anyone who was around the Indio Central Market on Sunday afternoon fell in love with Auggie. He is a tiny, adorable white Dachshund who was being walked around on a leash by its owner, who works for the festival. And this little guy turned heads as he wagged his tail and waddled by festivalgoers, who gushed over Auggie. Auggie was a ham, too, eating up all the attention like a true star.
Best sing-along
At music festivals, there are always sing-alongs during performances, but few have ever matched the epic sing-along that happened during Jimmy Eat World’s closing song, “The Middle,” at the main stage Saturday afternoon. Once singer-guitarist Jim Adkins started singing the song’s hook, which goes, “Everything, everything’ll be just fine, everything’ll be alright, alright,” the whole crowd began singing along and jumping up and down.
The energy was contagious because pretty soon, people who weren’t even watching the band began to sing it. The sing-along spread halfway across the grounds all the way to the Sonora tent, where festivalgoers just walking along sang it too. And yeah, everything was alright.
Best celebrity look-alike
In lieu of bringing Brian May out again during his weekend two performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Benson Boone was joined by a cardboard cutout of the Queen guitarist. We’ll give Boone points for being clever, along with the best celebrity look-alike award. Hey, it was close enough!
Boone delivered another lively performance during weekend two, complete with plenty of flips and stunts, making us look past the cardboard and enjoy the performance, even if an iconic guitarist didn’t join it.
@onestowatch bro trained all week for this moment (Via: @d4vd) #d4vd #d4vdd #coachella #coachella2025
Best Benson Boone Impression
Last week, D4VD tried to land a backflip but ended up face-planting, earning him the worst Benson Boone impression. This week, the indie rocker tried again and redeemed himself by landing the flip after his crowd hyped him up.
Most likely to sleep through an earthquake
Yikes! Electronic music producer and DJ Deadmau5 caused a buzz after apparently blacking out during his Saturday night set at the Quasar stage, with videos surfacing that appear to show the DJ falling asleep mid-set. He was performing under the alias “Testpilot.” DJ ZHU joined him in a highly anticipated collaboration that was cut short after it was clear that Deadmau5 wasn’t going to rally.
“Man, even my cat is disappointed in me,” the DJ posted on Instagram on Sunday morning. “Tho, it could be argued that she always has been. Sorry about last night. Lol. TO BE FAIR, I felt the first 3/4 was great.” He also thanked ZHU for carrying out the performance.
Most spirit
You have to be pretty self-assured to hop out on the main stage in a pink bunny costume and hype up the crowd, as Flavor Flav did during the opening minutes of Green Day’s Saturday night set. The schtick, complete with a backup dancer who pretended to escort the rapper and personality off the stage, was a perfect way to start the highly anticipated second round of the rock band’s set.
When the bunny head came off and Flavor Flav was revealed, the crowd’s reaction was audible. It brought an energy to fans that didn’t seem to sizzle throughout the rest of the performance, and it also gently reminded everyone that Easter was imminent – a fact that is all too easy to forget when you’re at a massive music festival in the middle of the desert.
Best place to take a nap
The large-scale art pieces at Coachella this year included a garden of giant inflatable flowers, some rising as high as 32 feet. Under these inflatable flowers were soft and comfy bean bags, where festivalgoers took a break and rested. Some took it all the way and fell into deep sleep under a canopy of colorful flowers. They looked like happy little well-rested bugs.
Worst FOMO
If you tried to stream the sets at the Sonora tent from home this weekend, you were out of luck. The festival announced last week that it would only stream the Sonora sets for weekend one and alternate it with Yuma’s performances from weekend two. That meant viewers for weekend two missed some of the best punk, indie rock and Latin gems performing at one of the festival’s most unique stages.