Sure, the big names are why you bought a ticket, but they’re not the whole show

FESTIVALS

British singer-songwriter Rachel Keen, known as Raye, performs during BRIT Awards 2024 on March 2. HENRY NICHOLLS — AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Damon Albarn of Blur performs at Converse Rubber Tracks Live Presents Blur In Concert at Music Hall of Williamsburg in 2015 in the Brooklyn. ILYA S. SAVENOK — GETTY IMAGES

Peso Pluma, center, performs with Brian Tovar, left, and Pedro Tovar of Eslabon Armado during the 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards in Seville, Spain, on Nov. 16. Peso Pluma makes his Coachella debut on both Fridays of the 2024 fest. PHOTO BY JOSE BRETON — INVISION/AP

Emily Roberts and Abigail Morris of The Last Dinner Party perform onstage at the 2024 iHeartRadio ALTer EGO on Jan. 13. RICH POLK — GETTY IMAGES

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Faced with 150 or so acts on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival roster, many of them unfamiliar to casual festival fans, it would be easy to get overwhelmed.

But relax — we’ve got suggestions to help you plan your festival weekend whether you’re on the grounds in Indio or livestreaming from home.

Coachella, especially as it’s transformed from a rock festival into a little-bit-of-something-for-everyone global gathering, is best thought of as a choose-your-own-musical-adventure.Dance music, hip-hop, Latin grooves, K-pop, rock, jazz — each offers pathways through the festival that runs Friday through April 14, with a repeat of the same lineup April 19-21.

Heck, you could even optimize your viewing for maximum celebrity sightings potential. Will Suki Waterhouse be accompanied by her fiance, actor Robert Pattinson, just a month after welcoming their first child? Will Taylor Swift appear as a guest with collaborators and friends Lana Del Rey, Jack Antonoff or Ice Spice?

Just don’t linger in the hotel pool too long, because as usual there are tons of cool acts, whether you know them or not. Here are our suggestions, more or less ordered from Friday to Sunday, for the best times in the desert this year.

1. Lana, Tyler, Dojo, No Doubt

You don’t need us to tell you not to miss headliners Lana Del Rey on Friday; Tyler, the Creator on Saturday; Doja Cat on Sunday; and the reunion of No Doubt wherever that one ends up in the weekend. But these will be the most talked-about sets of the fest, sure to have big productions, special guests, all the bells and whistles. If you don’t catch these, you won’t keep up the cultural conversation out of Coachella. We’ll see you there.

2. Peso Pluma

At 24, the Mexican singer is the freshest sensation in Latin music, having crossed over to chart success in the United States with multiple singles in the Hot 100 in 2023, including one that reached No. 4. Peso Pluma, who is also the most-streamed artist ever in Mexico, performs Friday. See also: Colombian singer-rapper J Balvin drew a huge crowd the last time he played Coachella, and his Sunday set probably will be wild.

3. Sabrina Carpenter

The pop singer and actress is the first Disney Channel star ever booked for Coachella, something you’d have thought Miley Cyrus might have beat her to, but no. She performs Friday. See also: If actress-singers are your jam, Friday will also feature a set from Waterhouse, while Sunday serves up Reneé Rapp, the star of the “Mean Girls” musical on Broadway and the movie adaptation of the same.

4. Brittany Howard

The solo career of the former singer of Alabama Shakes finds her deeper in the soulful blues. Her powerful, emotional vocals should dominate the stage Friday. See also: Singer-pianist Jon Batiste has a soulful groove, too, though his Saturday set will be a bit jazzier than Howard’s.

5. Cimafunk

The Cuban singer mixes rap with funk over Afro-Caribbean rhythms. It’s a funky, funky party when his band gets cooking. See also: Kokoroko is a female-fronted, eight-piece English ensemble that mixes jazz and Afrobeat. Both play Friday.

6. Blur

The band of Britpop elders return to Coachella behind a strong new album. Take your children to see this on Saturday night so they know what Coachella was like 15 years ago when indie and alternative rock ruled. See also: The British techno duo Orbital, also Saturday, has been doing its thing since the end of the ’80s, long before all the dance kiddies in the Sahara tent were born. Respect your elders!

7. Ice Spice

One of the hip-hop breakouts of 2023, Ice Spice is also a Taylor Swift collaborator (and part of her squad at the Super Bowl, too). With loads of charisma and a unique laid-back style, she should be big on the Saturday lineup this year. See also: Argentine producer Bizzarap also exploded on the music scene last year in collaborations with stars such as Peso Pluma, Rauw Alejandro and Shakira. The possibility of big-name guests is high for his Saturday set.

8. Gesaffelstein

The French DJ should be both visually and sonically fascinating Saturday, and if he’s joined by any of his big-name collaborators — think Ye, the Weeknd, Haim, Lil Nas X, for instance — this could be a highlight of the weekend. He plays Saturday. See also: The French duo Justice plays Friday and should be a blast as it’s been here before. Oneohtrix Point Never on Saturday is another of the electronic acts that could deliver something spectacular.

9. Le Sserafim

A year after the girl group BlackPink became the first K-pop headliner at Coachella, the festival brings another rising K-pop girl group act to the desert with Le Sserafim’s Saturday set. See also: Ateez, the K-pop boy band, plays Friday, and the Rose, a South Korean indie rock band, is on Sunday’s bill.

10. Raye

The English singer-songwriter, who performs Saturday, isn’t well known here yet, but at the Brit Awards in March, she set a record for the most wins in one night with six. An R&B-based singer, she’s got a gorgeous voice in that British neo-soul vein. She’s also written songs for a ton of big-name artists, including contributing to Beyonce’s new “Cowboy Carter” album. Just sayin’. See also: Victoria Monet just won the Grammy for best new artist, and her own R&B influences make a nice bookend to Raye. She performs Sunday.

11. The Last Dinner Party

Everyone says there’s no rock at Coachella anymore. Well, check out the Last Dinner Party, an all-female English rock band that put the swagger back where it belongs, onstage with electric guitars and drums on Saturday at the fest. See also: Young Fathers is a Scottish hip-hop/art pop group that also roars onstage. Check them out Saturday.

12. Khruangbin

The Texas trio’s mostly instrumental set is the accompaniment to a chill-out Sunday after the harder stuff earlier in the weekend. Transporting and transformative, this is the groovy stuff you want. See also: The guitar duo Hermanos Gutierrez also focuses on dreamy instrumentals. Find them Sunday, too.

13. Atarashi Gakko!

This Japanese girl group is pure fun, wearing school uniforms while singing and dancing in sharply choreographed performances. You will smile as you watch this Sunday. See also: Hatsune Miku is a holographic Japanese pop star. Which means when you “see” her on Saturday, she won’t be there, just the ones and zeroes that make her “real.” This is the strange stuff that’s always fun to find.