$20 million raised for not for profit organisations advocating for women and girls, a women-led festival, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Stevie Nicks. Is there another sentence that brings as much joy as this one?
On Saturday, thousands went to the Great Park in Irvine, California, for the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields, a festival created by Olivia Rodrigo to celebrate women in music and raise money for organisations supporting women and girls.
Chappell Roan was there. So was Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill, Garbage Santigold, and The Breeders. Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette and Stevie Nicks joined Rodrigo on stage. The list goes on.
But, more than it’s incredible line up of heavy hitters, was it’s contribution to some of the most important organisations advocating for women and girls.
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$20 million raised
Ahead of the festival, Rodrigo announced that $10 million from Daisy Chain Fields would be donated to 10 organisations supporting women and girls.
The organisations work across reproductive rights, gender-based violence, Black maternal health, Indigenous health, domestic workers’ rights and access to healthcare.
Among them are Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, John Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, Black Mamas Matter Alliance and the National Women’s Law Center.
On stage at the event, Rodrigo revealed Melinda French Gates matched the donation, moving the donation up to $20 million.
From Lilith to Daisy
The festival was inspired by McLachlan’s Lilith Fair, the touring festival she co-founded in the 1990s after becoming frustrated by the lack of opportunities for female artists to tour together.
Lilith Fair created space for women in an industry dripping with sexism so much so that execs would not allow two women in the same concert line up and would not let radios play them back-to-back because they said it would not sell.
Daisy Chain Fields took that idea and moved it into a new generation.
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‘Inspiring’ is the word of the day
Daisy Chain Fields brought together artists who span decades of music history.
The likes of Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette, Bikini Kill, Garbage, and The Breeders came together with modern pop icons like Rodrigo, Doechii and Roan.
The combination of these performers with the cause made for what can only be described as something inspiring, impactful and soul warming.
Roan certainly felt it. Following her performance, she posted a series of photos from the festival, sharing just how much the day meant to her.
“U r so inspiring in so many ways,” Roan wrote. “We need artists like u who use ur platform for good and are such a light in the world.”
She also admitted that performing again reminded her just how much she had missed it.
“It felt so good to perform again, I didn’t realise how much I missed it,” she wrote.
Rodrigo replied in the comments: “u inspire me so much and I am so lucky to know u!”
And that exchange feels like a pretty perfect summary of Daisy Chain Fields.
It was big, it was joyful, it was packed with some of the biggest women in music, and, most importantly, it was for a good cause – proving just how much good can be done when the girls, gays and theys get together.
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