This past weekend was one for the books. The Pope visited NYC, only to be followed by her majesty, Queen Bey. Saturday marked the fourth Global Citizen Festival held on Central Park’s Great Lawn. With lines spanning twenty-some blocks just to get in, sixty thousand people eventually made their way into the park for the show. Kicking it off, Coldplay, whose frontman, Chris Martin, curates the festival, played a fantastic set. Performing some classics like “Viva La Vida” and “Yellow” along with a surprise duet with Ariana Grande, they had the crowd on its feet from the start.
Following each musical act, celebrity guests spoke on issues that the festival worked to raise awareness for. Some celeb highlights included: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Laverne Cox, Big Bird, Bill Nye the Science Guy (*Chanting* BILL BILL BILL BILL), Katie Holmes, Stephen Colbert and Hugh Jackman.
Mind the blurry photo, 60K people on flat ground makes it *kinda* hard to see. Regardless, Leo is king.
Other musical guests included Tori Kelly, Ed Sheeran, Common, Pearl Jam, and of course, Beyoncé. They were all fantastic, controlling the massive crowd with ease. It was an awesome experience to see all of these incredible acts, as well as the powerful leaders who came to address the crowd. After Beyoncé’s electrifying set, she used feminism to segway into the arrival of FLOTUS herself, Michelle Obama. Michelle spoke about the #LetGirlsLearn initiative, and introduced none other than Bono. He spoke about the importance of the Global Citizen Festival, and introduced the crowd to a now-icon, Malala Yousafzai. For someone who is essentially the same age as me, I was floored, per usual, by her eloquence. She is such an inspiring young woman who has already made such an impact on the world, and will only continue to as time goes on.
#GCF was such a unique experience that I am so grateful to have been a part of. If you didn’t get a chance to go this year, you’re in luck. Chris Martin (Coldplay) is curating the festival for the next twelve years, so I’m sure they’ll only get bigger and better.