Brandi Carlile Sang, Joyfully Resisted, and Fed Fans Tequila at Girls Just Wanna Weekend 2026: Recap + Gallery

A few short weekends ago, Brandi Carlile hosted the seventh edition of her Girls Just Wanna Weekend destination festival. Going down at the Barceló Resort in Mexico, the weekend was one of community and resistance through joy, all capped by headlining performances from The Chicks, Sam Smith, and Carlile herself.

In addition to the The Chicks (who performed their first full set since 2023), Smith, and Carlile (who previewed her “Human Tour”), the event also featured the talents of CMAT, Joy Oladokun, Jensen McRae, Lucius, Jasmine.4.t, and August Ponthier. Plus, Brandy Clark, Shawn Colvin, and Tish Melton joined forces for a special, one-of-a-kind “Titans of Americana” set.

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But the great tunes were just the tip of the weekend’s iceberg. There were also pool parties, community events, and the largest-ever screening of the Andrea Gibson documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, which included a Q&A with Megan Falley. Other highlights include “Night of the Living ’90s,” an all-star set where the featured artists covered their favorite ’90s classics (see the full setlist here), and “Hot Tub Time Machine,” the annual party that follows the final headlining set. And, yes, Carlile indeed crowd surfed and poured tequila into the mouths of fans during the later — there’s photos to prove it.

That wasn’t all that Carlile was up to, as she was all over the festival’s various happenings. Outside of her own performances, the star hopped on stage to play with Lucius (who covered Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual in its entirety), The Chicks, and Sam Smith during their respective sets. She also joined several guest activities, was reportedly prone to hanging out by the pool, and, as previously mentioned, assisted fans with their tequila intake.

Check out photos from Brandi Carlile’s 2026 Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival in the gallery below. Then, revisit our take on what makes the event so special here. Notably, similarly spectacular weekends from the likes of Goose, Empire of the Sun, and Umphrey’s McGee are on the horizon.

Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend Festival 2026 Photo Gallery (Click to Expand)