The Daisy Chain Fields Festival: Empowering Women One Song at a Time
By Ella Cocchi ’29
On a scorching hot day in late August, around 45,000 people poured into Great Park in Irving, California, to attend the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields music festival. Founded by Olivia Rodrigo this year, the festival aims to empower women through an all-female line-up of singers and bands. The event completely sold out. The festival featured a variety of musicians, drew inspiration from the late ’90s Lilith Fair, and donated $20 million to women-and girls-based nonprofit organizations.
The artists spanned across diverse musical styles; one performance featured the pop icon Chappell Roan, while another presented the indie-rock musician Mitski. The groundbreaking punk band Bikini Kill also performed. The band’s frontwoman, Kathleen Hanna, is known as a pioneer of the Riot Grrrl movement, born in the ‘90s to create a feminist version of punk, which at the time was a particularly misogynistic subculture. Hanna empowered women everywhere to fight for what they believed in, and to make a change in the world. Hanna’s reputation as a leader of the third-wave feminist movement made her an essential asset to the festival. The special guests included Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, and Sarah McLachlan, who notably co-founded the Lilith Fair.
In the late ‘90s, McLachlan and her co-founders Terry McBride, Dan Fraser, and Marty Diamond wanted to create a space for women to express themselves through music, so they created an all-women music fair. They named the fair after Lilith, a figure in ancient Mesopotamian and medieval Jewish folklore often seen as a symbol of feminism. The tour ran from 1997 to 1999 and was a huge commercial success, grossing $52 million. The fair featured a rotating selection of all-female artists, such as Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant, and Fiona Apple. While not overtly stated, Rodrigo clearly sought to create a modern version of the Lilith Fair, as the two music events share many parallels. As an homage to the original festival, Olivia Rodrigo invited singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan onstage for a moving duet of “Angel,” one of McLachlan’s most famous songs. They dedicated the duet to the late icon Dolly Parton, who died just four days before the festival.
The festival not only sought to empower women in music; it also raised money for several women-focused nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood, Baby2Baby, and Freefrom, a non-profit organization that works to end gender-based violence. Through ticket sales and sponsor contributions such as Taco Bell, the Daisy Chain Fields festival raised $10 million. A generous contribution from Melinda French Gates matched the amount raised from the Daisy Chain Fields Fair; as a result, total donations amounted to $20 million. The festival’s plentiful contributions to the welfare of women and girls cemented it as an exceptional musical event.
The Daisy Chain Fields Festival proved a roaring success, both monetarily and physically. Young and older women gathered to watch their favorite bands and to experience the music of artists that shaped the feminist movement. Rodrigo encouraged attendees to return next year, promising to continue the highly popular festival. Featuring a diverse lineup, giving homage to its inspiration, the Lilith Fair, and donating $20 million to women-based nonprofits, the Daisy Chain Fields Festival was a smashing success.