Coachella's anarchic hippos are back, now as bumbling media barons

“All Hippos, the drone is successful the power room, springiness america your all.”

Vanessa Bonet of the installation creation radical Dedo Vabo watched implicit a mission-control show deck, arsenic the buzzing trade climbed into country afloat of braying hippos successful rumpled suits. The beasts were, ostensibly, moving a menacing communications conglomerate successful a outer operation looking implicit the main tract of Coachella, but present they were spooked. They scampered astir the bureau looming supra the Outdoor stage, portion delighted fans connected the crushed watched them flail down glass.

“When you enactment a hippopotamus successful a 10 ft enclosed abstraction for 12 hours, they thin to spell a small crazy,” Bonet said, picking up her CB vigor to archer 1 hippo their disguise had slipped off. “It takes a batch of enactment to support this running.”

Coachella veterans were chuffed to deed the grounds and spot “Network Operations,” the long-awaited instrumentality of Dedo Vabo’s hippos. It’s a years-long installation gag connected the polo fields wherever actors (and Coachella performing artists) successful hippo masks pantomime moving astatine evil-ish corporations earlier the cognition blows up successful their faces by Sunday evening.

Festival goers observe ‘hippos’ astatine exhibit, ‘Network Operations’ astatine the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival astatine the Empire Polo Club successful Indio connected Saturday, April 11, 2026.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

While the task began successful a country astatine the infamous Cecil Hotel successful downtown L.A.’s Art Walk successful 2008, they’re present synonymous with Coachella and backmost connected the tract for the archetypal clip since 2019. Artists from the young punk set Die Spitz and Janelle Monáe’s unit person taken spins successful the costumes (they’re hoping famed carnal rights activistic Moby mightiness beryllium up for a crook this year.) Past installments person seen the hippos recovered a powerfulness company, articulation the abstraction contention and vessel the banal market.

“Network Operations” is simply a small portion of the arty anarchy that defined Coachella’s early, pre-influencer era. In a play of Hollywood marked by mega-mergers from well-funded nepo children, determination is thing timely astir these oblivious creatures smashing up a printing property and a broadcast studio.

“The hippos are mimetic. It’s small spot of a reflection of nine with dark, absurdist humor,” said Dedo Vabo’s Derek Doublin. “This is your affable planetary vicinity multi-conglomerate telecommunications and broadcast company. They clasp tremendous powerfulness but they’re besides clueless astir wherever they’re going with it.”

If immoderate of the Skydance/Paramount brass are connected the field, they mightiness find the concern a spot resonant.