How did Highland Park's Bob Baker Marionette Theater end up at Coachella?

When Angelenos got a hold of the full 2026 Coachella lineup, some were shocked to see the oldest children’s theater company in Los Angeles — known for its live puppet performances — listed alongside headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s Instagram posted the lineup, too, with the caption: “Our puppetchella dreams are finally coming true!”

So how did the Highland Park-based puppet theater find its way to one of the largest music festivals in the country?

'We've always had a toe in music'

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s road to Coachella isn’t as unexpected as it might seem. It opened back in 1963 with its original location in downtown Los Angeles and is the longest-running live puppet theater in the U.S.

Although the theater is best known for puppet shows, its team has done all sorts of work in the arts, from creating window displays for Disneyland’s Main Street to practical effects and props for films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Since 2016, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater also has hosted live concerts, most recently partnering with concert booker and promoter Sid the Cat for monthly shows where audiences can see musicians like Ty Segall with a live puppet accompaniment.

In the past few years, Bob Baker’s puppeteers have been featured at music festivals like Echo Park Rising and Just Like Heaven, which hosted activities for families.

So when the theater was approached by Coachella, the answer immediately was yes.

“It was like getting a call that you're nominated for an Oscar or something,” said Winona Bechtle, the nonprofit’s director of partnership. “While we've been adjacent [to music festivals], we've never quite been invited to actually present on stage. So that's a first time for us on this scale.”

Bechtle said Coachella is a big step for the iconic marionette theater but not an unexpected one.

“We've always had a toe in music,” Bechtle said. “The years of collaboration with musicians, with artists, with local festivals — to us, it was the obvious next step to see how we can continue to innovate on this really huge platform.”

Puppeteers from the Bob Baker Marionette Theater pose their clown puppets.

(

Mary Costa

/

Courtesy Bob Baker Marionette Theater

)

What can you expect from the set?

Bechtle said the theater is planning its Coachella performance to be multidisciplinary, very likely with a live music element. The details still are being ironed out, but one thing’s for certain: There will be puppets.

“ We're gonna bring out some of our fan favorites, some rarely seen marionettes from the collection,” Bechtle said. “We know we want it to be big; we want it to be immersive; we want it to be visual … and we wanna make sure that it fills the stage.”

As for their target demographic? Bechtle said they’ll program the show considering an adult audience, though it will be friendly to all ages.

“We're definitely gonna program to make sure that it's, like, hitting the ethos and the vibe and creative spirit that we've seen at Coachella […] in a way that lives very comfortably alongside something like Justin Bieber,” Bechtle said.

Marionettes of dogs pose for a photo.

(

Chloe Rice

/

Courtesy Bob Baker Marionette Theater

)

What about Bob Baker Day?

For over a decade, Bob Baker has been hosting “Bob Baker Day” — a free annual springtime festival that Bechtle said is jokingly called “puppetchella” because it often coincides with Coachella weekend.

Next year, the theater is doing both on the same weekend — Weekend 1 of Coachella.

“We're just going all in to give as much delight and joy in Los Angeles,” Bechtle said. “ We're ready to step up to make it one of our biggest weekends of the year.”

You can see Bob Baker Marionettes on April 10 and 17 at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. Stage and times will be announced at a later date.