Music fans flocked to California’s Coachella Valley for the premiere arts festival, which kicked off Friday and features headliners Lana Del Rey, Doja Kat and Tyler, the Creator.

No Doubt — the group fronted by Gwen Stefani, who rose to fame in the 1990s — is reuniting on stage for the first time since 2015.

And rumors are swirling that none other than Taylor Swift, the megastar currently on hiatus from her blockbuster, Billion Dollar Era tour, will grace the festival grounds with a dramatic take on the San Jacinto Mountains. Cannot be presented as

Swift is not on the lineup, but speculation is rife that she could appear on stage with friend Lana Del Rey or with the rock band Bleachers — fronted by Jack Antonoff, her longtime producer.

It would also be the perfect moment to promote his upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which drops on April 19.

But hopeful fan gossip aside, this is far from Coachella’s biggest year yet.

Ticket sales were slower than last season, although prices are in the $500 range for general admission and more than $1,000 for VIP passes.

A decade ago, Coachella entries were sold out within an hour. This year, weekend one took a month to sell out, while the second round — for which the lineup remains essentially the same — tickets are still up for grabs.

The 2024 edition follows a strict process. Last year, Bad Bunny capped off a historic year in which no major act was white for the first time and where the reggaeton titan was the first Spanish-language and Latin American act to headline.

And another group with an insatiable fan base, South Korean K-pop group Blackpink, was the first top-billed Asian act in 2023.

Meanwhile, R&B artist Frank Ocean infamously pulled out of the second weekend after his opening set was unusually delayed due to a leg injury, angering many fans.

Virtual Star, Latin Revolution

Despite the drop in sales, Coachella 2024 features an eclectic lineup that includes many international acts, a consistent trend at the festival’s original focus on alternative rock.

Japan’s popular virtual singer Hatsune Miku — a Vocaloid software voice bank personified as a turquoise-haired teenage girl — will make her Coachella debut after originally being booked for 2020.

“The Artist” — which isn’t real — began as a virtual instrument in 2007, and has become a cultural icon, touring since 2014.

The stage production will include visuals and a live band.

“We have no idea what to expect from the crowd… and the crowd doesn’t know what to expect,” said Ricky Souji, who is on the business team at Krypton Future Media, the company behind Hatsune Miku.

“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of people who… may never have heard of Hatsune Miku before,” Suji told AFP.

Grammy-nominated Cimafunk will become the first Cuban-born artist to play Coachella, bringing their brand of Afro-Cuban funk to the desert with disco and horns.

He joins a host of Latin actors, including Puerto Rico’s fast-rising star Young Maco, along with Peso Paloma, a Mexican superstar who has broken into the global mainstream with a string of hits over the past year.

The two are among the artists who have collaborated with Argentina’s Bizarap, one of the world’s most streamed Latin American artists whose recording partnerships also include Shakira and The Resident.

The artist of Palestinian, Algerian, French and Serbian descent — born in St. Levant, Jerusalem — who spent much of his childhood in Gaza — will take to the stage after gaining fame on social media, including his 2023 hit “From Gaza With Love”

Influential UK grime stars Skepta will also perform at the festival after debuting in 2017.

And none other than Sublime — the 1990s stoner reggae rock group beloved for hits including “Santeria” — will perform, led by late frontman Brad Nowell’s son Jacob.

Coachella 2024 takes place April 12-14 and 19-21.