Daisy Chain Festival: Uplifting Women in Music
Global pop star Olivia Rodrigo founded and headlined the inaugural Daisy Chain Festival hosted at Great Park in Irvine, California, on August 29th. This women-led music festival raised money and awareness, with 100 percent of net proceeds going to nonprofit organizations supporting reproductive freedom and women’s rights.
After releasing her third album “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” in June, Rodrigo announced the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival. According to the mission statement on the Daisy Chain Fields Festival website, the event aimed to create a welcoming environment to celebrate strong female voices.
The mission statement reads, “Daisy Chain Fields is a music festival founded on the belief that joy, community, and creativity can inspire meaningful change. It affirms that music and collective experience can serve as enduring drivers of progress and social change.”
The festival highlights how the music industry, and festivals in particular, can support and uplift the community through nonprofit organizations.
The all-female lineup included 14 artists, such as Bikini Kill, Chappell Roan, Mitski, Doechii and Quiet Light. Special guests included Karen O, Sarah McLachlan, and Alanis Morissette, who sang “Iconic” with Rodrigo. To close out the highly successful show, Rodrigo sang “Landslide” with her idol Stevie Nicks, creating a special moment that left fans emotional.
The Daisy Chain Fields festival was inspired by the groundbreaking Lilith Fair, which was a women-led concert tour founded by McLachlan in the 1990s. McLachlan was exasperated with concert and radio stations that refused to feature female musicians back-to-back, prompting her to make her own concert tour highlighting female artists.
Despite high temperatures in Southern California, fans enjoyed the event with daisies in their hair and outfits celebrating their favorite artists, local vendors, and the aesthetic of the festival,
The festival drew 45,000 attendees and raised $20 million, according to Forbes. The festival itself raised $10 million, and philanthropist Melinda French Gates donated an additional $10 million as well. Proceeds were split among the following 10 nonprofit organizations. The statements below are quoted directly from the Daisy Chain Festival website, which gives a brief description of the organization.
- “Baby2Baby provides children in need with diapers, formula, clothing, and the basic necessities that every child deserves, serving more than one million children across all 50 states.”
- “Is the nation’s premier Black maternal health organization ensuring that all Black Mamas have the rights, respect, and resources to thrive before, during, and after pregnancy.”
- “The Center for Reproductive Rights uses the power of law and advocacy to advance reproductive rights and health care access worldwide”
- “FreeFrom is a national survivor-led organization working to end gender-based violence by building economic freedom alongside survivors.”
- “Jhpiego helps women and communities around the world live healthier, stronger lives.”
- “Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health brings together Indigenous knowledge, community wisdom, and public health practice to advance health equity and support thriving, healthier, and stronger Indigenous communities worldwide.”
- “National Domestic Workers Alliance advocates for the rights, protections, and dignity of millions of domestic workers while building an economy where workers are valued, and every family can access the care they need and deserve.”
- “National Institute for Reproductive Health builds a future where reproductive freedom, without limits, is a reality by partnering with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations on policy advocacy.”
- “The National Women’s Law Center defends and protects the rights and freedoms of women, girls, and the LGBTQ+ community through law, policy, and culture change – with a particular focus on addressing the inequities faced by women of color and low-income women and families.”
- “Planned Parenthood serves as an essential provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive health care, and sex education, supporting millions of people across the United States.”
Rodrigo posted on her Instagram: “Seeing Daisy Chain come to fruition yesterday was the greatest joy of my career.”
Photo credit to Getty Images