Dispatches from Daisy Chain Fields, Olivia Rodrigo’s Feminist Music Festival

On Saturday, Aug. 29, more than 45,000 music fans traveled to Irvine, Calif., for the first-ever Daisy Chain Fields music festival, organized and headlined by Olivia Rodrigo to raise money for organizations supporting women and girls. Under the sweltering SoCal sun, an all-women lineup—including sets from Mitski, Doechii, Garbage, Chappell Roan and others—fundraised for 10 nonprofits including Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The daylong festival, inspired by Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair of the 1990s, raised $10 million in ticket sales, with all proceeds going to the organizations. During her set at the end of the day, Rodrigo announced to massive applause that Melinda French Gates promised to double all the money raised, meaning that $20 million is going to diverse nonprofits supporting sexual and reproductive health, children in need, Black mothers, gender-based violence survivors, Indigenous communities and more.

I was lucky enough to go to Daisy Chain Fields and cover the festival for Ms. In the “Daisy Chain Reaction Village,” I got to speak with several of the organizations who will be receiving the funds that Daisy Chain Fields raised.

“We wanted to come to the festival because we feel really passionately about connecting with new audiences on the issue of reproductive rights, particularly younger audiences who may not be as aware or knowledgeable about the national and international state of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy,” said Esme Lowe from the Center for Reproductive Rights. “It's just super exciting because we're engaging with people we might not [otherwise] even get to talk to.”

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