Coachella 2026 took place on April 10-12 and 17-19, headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, Karol G, and Justin Bieber. The first weekend went smoothly. The second weekend did not.
Justin Bieber’s performance in the second weekend racked up a significant penalty fee for Coachella organizers because of a rule imposed by the city of Indio. The rule is simple: performances must wrap up by 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and by midnight on Sunday. Breaching this rule results in a straight $20,000 fine for the first five minutes of delay, and an additional $1,000 per minute from the sixth minute onward.
Bieber went two minutes over while performing his headlining set on Saturday, April 18. The set featured a special appearance from Billie Eilish. The two-minute overrun added $20,000 to the weekend’s fines. He was not alone. Anyma (real name Matteo Milleri), an Italian-American musician and one-half of the duo Tale of Us, performed on Friday, April 17, after his first weekend set was canceled due to severe weather. His set went nine minutes past the cutoff time, costing organizers $24,000.
Total fines for the weekend: $44,000. Total reason: two artists who could not stick to the schedule.
The Golden Rule of Coachella
The agreement Goldenvoice — Coachella’s organizer and a subsidiary of AEG Worldwide — has with Indio is unforgiving. The city does not excuse lateness. It does not waive fees for star power. The fine structure is designed to enforce compliance, not generate revenue. But the revenue does not hurt.
A representative for the city of Indio confirmed the numbers to TMZ. The money from these fines goes to Indio’s General Fund and is used to fund the city’s expenses, such as public works, the police, and fire departments. Every minute Bieber played past curfew helped pay for a police patrol or a fire truck.
Coachella has been hit with huge curfew fines in the past few years. Justin Bieber was not the first high-profile artist to cost Coachella money. He is just the latest.
A History of Lateness
Indio’s current contract with Coachella was signed in 2013 and runs through 2050. Under the previous contract, the fine for breaking the curfew rule was $1,000 per minute flat. The current structure is actually more forgiving for short overruns — $20,000 for the first five minutes — but exponentially more expensive after that.
The regulation cost Goldenvoice $54,000 in 2009, when Beatles legend Paul McCartney played 54 minutes over the scheduled time. The Killers also played an extra 30 minutes that same year. Organizers were forced to pull the plug during The Cure’s set, who started a new song at around 12:30 a.m. “The music is supposed to end every night at midnight,” Commander Ben Guitron from Indio police said after the incident. “How Goldenvoice addresses our concerns is up to them.” He added that the police were not physically involved in shutting down the event.
In 2023, Coachella missed the curfew on both weekends, with six performers going over the cutoff time, including Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd. It cost organizers $117,000 in fines in the first weekend and $51,000 in the second — a total of $168,000 for the whole event.
In 2024, Lana Del Rey’s performance continued for 13 minutes after 1 a.m., resulting in $28,000 in fines.
By comparison, Bieber’s $20,000 overrun is modest. But it is not the amount that matters. It is the principle. The golden rule of Coachella is the curfew. Break it, and you pay.
The Internet Responds
Many netizens who were upset about ticket and food prices at Coachella being allegedly too high dismissed the situation with lighthearted jokes. “So a round of drinks will cover the fines,” one user said. The sentiment is clear: for a festival that charges hundreds of dollars per ticket and $20 for a slice of pizza, a $44,000 fine is pocket change.
“$40K is nothing to them,” another commenter wrote. That is probably true. But the fines are not designed to bankrupt Goldenvoice. They are designed to enforce compliance. And on that front, they are failing. Artists continue to run over. Fines continue to be paid. The cycle continues.
The Bieber-Eilish Moment
The fine is not the only story from Bieber’s set. During his performance, which included karaoke-style renditions of his old hits, Bieber performed his 2009 hit “One Less Lonely Girl.” He invited Billie Eilish up from the audience to be serenaded — a throwback to his early tours when he would do the same with fans.
Visibly emotional, Eilish sat in a chair, smiling and holding her head in her hands as he sang to her. They quickly hugged before she ran back into the crowd. Afterward, Eilish shared an Instagram story of her face with red and teary eyes and the caption: “Can’t stop crying.”
Eilish’s mother, Maggie Baird, shared an Instagram post revealing that it was Justin’s wife, Hailey Bieber, who encouraged and prompted her to go onstage. “One of the most touching moments ever,” Baird wrote. “Watching this crazy, unimaginable dream come true over many years is so incredible.”
Eilish has been a fan of Justin Bieber since a young age and famously had posters of the “Baby” singer in her teenage bedroom. Their first public meeting at Coachella 2019 went viral when Bieber approached her during Ariana Grande’s set, and the two shared an embrace. “Long and bright future ahead of you,” Bieber later wrote about Eilish on his Instagram.
The moment was emotional. The fine was financial. Both will be remembered.
The Bottom Line
Coachella organizers were fined $44,000 for curfew violations during the second weekend of the 2026 festival. Anyma’s set went nine minutes over — a $24,000 penalty. Justin Bieber’s headlining set went two minutes over — a $20,000 penalty. The fines go to Indio’s General Fund for public works, police, and fire departments.
Coachella has a long history of curfew fines. Paul McCartney cost $54,000 in 2009. Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean, and The Weeknd cost $168,000 in 2023. Lana Del Rey cost $28,000 in 2024. Bieber’s $20,000 overrun is modest by comparison. But the golden rule remains unbroken: the music must stop on time. When it does not, the festival pays.
