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From beach days and barbecues, pool parties and errand runs, Birkenstock sandals are perfectly designed for summer. And nothing finishes off a good music festival outfit quite like a pair of Birks too.

Don’t just take it from us: stars like Selena Gomez, Zoë Kravitz and Britney Spears have all been known to wear Birkenstocks, and the sandals have long been the footwear of choice for music events like Coachella.

To help update your sandal collection, we’ve rounded up a few of the best Birkenstock options to sport this summer along with a couple of alternative styles, including a popular Amazon pick that starts at just $18.

For lazy summer days, hot summer nights and everything in between, here’s a roundup of bestsellers to shop from Birkenstock and more.

THE ORIGINAL

Birkenstock Unisex Arizona Birko-Flor Sandals

$83.00 $106.80 22% off

Buy Now On Amazon

If you appreciate an icon, the Birkenstock Arizona is for you. The classic, buckle silhouette slip-on sandal hit shelves in 1973 and the design hasn’t changed since then. This one, is the classic Birkenstock sandal, with its iconic double straps and famous cork footbed that’s anatomically shaped to your foot for comfort. While you can get Birkenstocks with leather or suede straps, we like these vegan-friendly PVC straps, which keep things lightweight and easy to clean. A grippy EVA sole keeps your feet firmly planted on the ground.

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SUEDE OPTION

Birkenstock Arizona Suede Leather Sandals

$135

Buy Now AT BIRKENSTOCK

The Arizona is available in leather and suede textiles too and we love the baby blue colorway of this pair, which feels fresh and fashionable for summer. Besides the wide color selection, the Arizona is a great season-to-season sandal. You can wear them through the summer and into the fall — just throw on a pair of socks.

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VEGAN PICK

The Mayari Vegan Leather Sandal

$110

Buy Now at birkenstock

Buy Now at nordstrom

A flip on the regular buckle design, the Mayari has crisscross straps with a contoured cork-latex footbed, a lightweight EVA sole, synthetic leather upper and metal pin buckles.

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ALSO CONSIDER

The Gizeh Nubuck Leather Sandal

$130

Buy Now at birkenstock

Thong sandals have summer written all over them. The Gizeh is another popular style from Birkenstock featuring a thong design in the front, an adjustable buckle and open back.

If you’d rather not go strapless, Birkenstock has sandals with straps too! Shop other Birkenstock styles at Birkenstock.com and retailers such as Zappos, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, QVC, and REI. You can also find Birkenstocks at Walmart, Amazon and StockX.

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What Are the Best Birkenstock Dupes?

It seems like every top brand has a budget-friendly alternative, although when shopping for dupes, the quality may not be exactly the same and the item not last as long as the real thing. Still, if you want the Birkenstock look for less, we’ve rounded up a few great options.

Where can you find Birkenstock alternatives online? Retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Target are a few of the major leaguers that offer affordable alternatives to Birkenstock sandals.

BEST BIRKENSTOCK DUPE

Kricely Wide Width Sandals

$18.99

Buy Now AT AMAZON

Birkenstocks are a solid option but they can often run into the hundreds of dollars. But savvy shoppers have found this Birkenstock dupe for under $20 on Amazon. We personally owe two pairs of these sandals — in black and the grey/green seen here — and we love how comfortable and lightweight they are. Made from a foam-like EVA material, the slides feature a raised outsole and contoured arch support to keep your feet comfortable all day long. The single-tone design feels chic and minimalist, while also allowing us to pair these sandals with everything from shorts to skirts to trousers. The buckle straps are actually adjustable — they’re not just decorative — and we like how the slightly thicker footbed prevents us from getting too close to the dirty ground. And if you do get the sandals dirty? The material wipes clean easily with a damp cloth. At just $18, these Birkenstock dupes are a great value and we recommend stocking up before Amazon changes its prices (one reviewer even calls them “the most perfect sandals I have ever worn”). Shop from 10+ colors here.

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GREAT ALTERNATIVE

MUK LUKS Grand Cayman Sandal

$31.49 $44.99 30% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Amazon shoppers also love this fashion-forward take from MUK LUKS, which offers a great Birkenstock alternative adorned with contrast color buckles. The rest of the construction is inspired by Birks sandals, with the molded footbed, jagged sole and two-strap design. Choose from eight colors. These sandals were a bestseller during Amazon’s recent Big Spring Sale.

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ALSO CONSIDER

CUSHIONAIRE Lane Cork Footbed Sandal

$28.49 $49.99 43% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Cushionaire makes a couple of bestselling alternatives to Birkenstocks, one being the Cork Footbed Sandal. The slip-in sandal features a buckle closure and available in over 22 colors.

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STYLISH ALTERNATIVE

CUSHIONAIRE Luna Low Heel Slide Sandal

$28.49

Buy Now On Amazon

The Luna Low Heel Slide by Cushionaire, gets its style inspiration from the Birkenstock Mayari sandal. The Luna is available in 20 different colors including brown, black, stone, taupe, gold, pink vegan suede and tan vegan suede

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EDITOR’S PICK

Vayfio Suede Clogs Potato Shoes Cork Footbed Sandals

$25.99 $36.99 30% off

Buy Now On Amazon

If you want a good dupe for the Birkenstock clogs, we like this pair on Amazon, which features the same genuine suede construction and closed-toe design. Also known as mules or slip-in sandals, these shoes are great for spring, summer and fall, and work with all outfits and activities, whether you’re sightseeing or chilling at a music festival. Note: reviewers say these clogs run small so we suggest sizing half a size up. Choose from eight colors online here.

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For more summer footwear, see our roundups on the best platform sandals, best slides and best shoes for travel.

Starting early Thursday morning (April 10), Coachella campers arriving a day early to set up their campsites and attend the festival’s first-ever Day Zero dance party took to social media to post troubling dispatches about long lines and a lack of bathrooms or shade as they waited for hours to get in. According to sources close to the festival, the likely culprits for the traffic jam were two small changes at the festival’s popular car camping ground.

The first change was that the campgrounds began letting people in on Thursday at 9 a.m. this year, which is later than in past years, according to sources and fans posting on social media. The second was the festival’s launch of a preferred campsite program for the campground closest to the festival entrance.

On its website, Coachella describes the Preferred Front Row Car campground as an upgraded experience where attendees can “arrive at your leisure in a guaranteed spot in the front row of the lot closest to the venue.” The cost for a preferred car campsite is $462.17, while the cost for a regular car campsite is $179.37.

Administering the new preferred campsite program, which replaced the traditional first-come, first-served system with a reservation-based system, took a little more time per camper to manage, sources tell Billboard — and that extra few minutes per camper quickly mushroomed into extra hours as the day wore on.

Slowing things down even more was that many diehard fans arrived as early as 2 a.m. to get first crack at the best campsites in the general camping area. On social media sites like Reddit and TikTok, some fans have claimed that Goldenvoice opened access to the camping area as early as 3 a.m., with many sharing tips on when to arrive; sources close to the festival say the festival sometimes opened as early as 6 a.m. The official entry time for the campgrounds in both 2024 and 2025 was listed as 9 a.m. 

Whatever the case, the decision to open the campground no earlier than 9 a.m. this year created a large backlog of fans who had to wait hours to go through the festival’s check-in process, which often includes a security screening for all campers.

The changes caused frustrating delays for fans as they waited in their cars for hours to get in, sitting in the hot desert sun with temperatures peaking at 100 degrees and no options for shade or public bathrooms.

There was a small silver lining to this year’s changes that many fans embraced. For the first time in Coachella’s 25-year history, organizers added a live performance on the opening Thursday of the festival, known in Coachella fan parlance as Zero Day. For some fans, the hours-long set by veteran electronic artist Chris Lake helped balance out the difficult start to the day.

“[The traffic jam] doesn’t take away from this,” one festival goer told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s in the past. We’re about to see the G.O.A.T. and we’re living in the present now. It’s all right.”

Guest artists, surprises and lots of fun. That’s how Rawayana‘s debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is shaping up. The band will perform this and next Saturday (April 12 and 19) on the Gobi stage. According to lead vocalist Beto Montenegro, it will be a true tribute to their home country, where their last tour was canceled late last year amid political turmoil.

“Honestly, we’re scratching the itch after not being able to play in Venezuela,” Montenegro told Billboard Español on Friday (April 11) in an exclusive interview. “Our idea is to bring the Venezuelan Caribbean to Coachella. That’s the concept of the show. And to dedicate this to all the people who couldn’t see us in December.”

Both performances will be streamed live on Coachella’s YouTube channel.

Rawayana will bring a total of ten special guests for their two shows, Montenegro shared. While he preferred to keep their identities a surprise, he revealed that this weekend’s performance will feature three Venezuelan and two Puerto Rican artists, and next week’s will include three more Venezuelans, a Colombian, and a Puerto Rican. “Our guests are the best of Venezuela,” he added enthusiastically. “They’re all from different worlds, but very important in our career and in Venezuelan music.”

And Rawayana won’t just be performing at the prominent festival in Indio, California. They’ll also premiere a music video during Coachella’s livestream: the clip for their viral hit “Veneka,” with Venezuelan rapper Akapellah, which was released last October. Filmed in November during the Caracas-Magallanes baseball game at loanDepot Park in Miami with the participation of many Venezuelan female figures from pop culture, the video will have its world premiere tonight (April 11) at 11:05 p.m. ET (8:05 p.m. PT) on the Main Stage YouTube channel, one week before its official release.

The festival announced it earlier today with a fun video on social media featuring another famous Venezuelan: Hollywood actor Edgar Ramírez.

“I mean, honestly, this Coachella is completely dedicated to Venezuela, and that makes us very happy,” Montenegro said, explaining that the song and the concept for the “Veneka” video were inspired by the baseball games they used to watch in their home country. “We used to go to the stadiums, and this type of music, raptor house [a dance electronic music genre originating in Caracas], would play. When the game ended, [the cameras] would always look for women in the crowd, and ‘Caracas de Noche’ would play. It was very iconic.”

Montenegro expressed his pride in performing at Coachella, the same festival where decades ago their fellow Venezuelans Los Amigos Invisibles — whom he said they were “ultra mega fans” of — played, and where this year they share the lineup with Gustavo Dudamel, “one of those little geniuses Venezuela has produced in recent times,” and Arca, “who is also a genius.”

“We feel amazing. It’s a privilege.”

NIKI has given Chappell Roan a musical makeover, covering “Casual” for her recent appearance on Like a Version, the long-running segment from Australian radio station triple j.

Airing on Friday, April 10 (Australian time), the performance was recorded in mid-March during the Australian leg of the Indonesian-born singer’s Buzz World Tour. As is tradition, the two-song set launched with an original, which saw NIKI deliver a raucous rendition of her “ female rage” song “Colossal Loss,” which has become wildly popular with her fans despite not being released as a single.

For the cover portion of the set, NIKI turned her attention to Roan’s “Casual,” which had been initially released in late 2022 as a single, before appearing on her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess the following year. As a result of the Grammy-nominated album’s global success in 2024, “Casual” peaked at No. 59 on the Hot 100 in August.

Stripping away the nostalgic synths in favor of a Gibson 12-string and slide guitar, NIKI’s reinvention of the track almost feels like something of a link between Roan’s original and the country-pop of her March single “The Giver.”

“It’s definitely a song that I wish I wrote,” NIKI explained in a post-performance interview. “I love the entire record, obviously, but ‘Casual’ was the one that really stayed with me on a personal level. It’s almost like I feel like I’ve known those melodies all my life, so it just felt very familiar and the production is just so moody.”

“For my version of casual, we decided to speed it up and make it more of like an early 2000s vibe, because we’ve been covering a lot of early 2000s bangers on tour,” she continued. “Just to kind of tie it into that universe of my Buzz tour, we sort of like Buzz-ified it, I guess.”

Having first launched in 2004, the Like a Version series has gone from being a near-impromptu acoustic affair to featuring larger studio productions. Numerous artists have taken part over the past two decades, with the likes of Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys, and more reinventing classic tracks in the process.

HYBE is continuing to work to protect its artists.

Korea’s Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency (NGPPA) worked with the global entertainment company to arrest eight individuals who are suspected of creating and distributing deepfake videos of HYBE Music Group artists, Billboard can confirm. Deepfakes are false images, videos or audio that have been edited or generated using artificial intelligence.

The investigation was launched as a result of a Memorandums of Understanding between HYBE and NGPPA, signed in February 2024, as a means to combat cybercrimes for their artists and maintain their safety. HYBE provided information to NGPPA, who were able to track down and identify the suspects. Additionally, fans helped the investigation by sending reports via the HYBE Artist Rights Violation Report Center tip line.

“HYBE will respond firmly to crimes that infringe on our artists’ portrait rights and reputations, based on a zero-tolerance and no-settlement policy,” Jason Jaesang Lee, CEO of HYBE, said in a press statement, adding, “We will continue to monitor and take legal action to eradicate such serious crimes.”

Ho-seung Kim, district chief of NGPPA, also assured that deepfake suspects will continue to be tracked down. “Deepfake crimes that exploit the vulnerabilities of celebrities—who often find it difficult to report such offenses themselves — are on the rise,” he said in his statement. “Deepfake is a serious type of crime that can destroy the daily lives of victims, and crimes targeting public figures are no exception.”

At press time, HYBE has not released names of suspects or which of its artists were affected.