Last Friday afternoon, as temperatures climbed into the 80s in the dusty California desert, fans rushed to claim a spot in front of a Coachella stage.

But the crowd wasn’t camping out for that night’s headliner, Sabrina Carpenter, or for the buzzy girl group Katseye. Attendees were patiently waiting to see Bob Baker Marionette Theater, home to some of Los Angeles’s most popular puppets.

Derek Moe, 31, was kicking off his first year at Coachella at the front of the crowd. Even with a stacked weekend of performances, he had a feeling that the puppet show would be “hard to top.” His partner, Talyssa Topacio, was also brimming with excitement. They had watched their first show at the puppet theater — a winter wonderland special — a few months earlier.

“I’ve always wanted to go, but I’d never just, like, done it,” Ms. Topacio, 28, said. “It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

As one of the largest and longest-running puppet theaters in the United States, the group is a beloved Los Angeles institution with 10 full-time staff members and 10 to 25 puppeteers, depending on the season.