2018 NYC Global Citizen Festival

The Global Citizen Festival is an annual festival that takes place on the Great Lawn in Central Park. While headliners are used to attract large crowds, the festival differs from festivals such as the Governors Ball and Coachella in that there are globalist objectives to this festival. Global Citizen is an organization that encourages people around the world to act on the issues of concern to them. These issues include but are not limited to the environment, food and hunger, health, and citizenship.

While there are nonpartisan objectives such as reducing the use of plastic and improving access to education and water around the world, some of the artists decided to make statements on current political issues within the United States. For instance, singer Janelle Monae said “this past week was a brutal, brutal week for women” to the crowd. Eventually, she rallied the crowd having it chant “I believe her.” This was clearly a statement concerning the sexual assault allegations of Dr. Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. While many people came to the event to support the nonpartisan issues they feel strongly about or to just enjoy the music, partisan positions were promoted by artists.

Later in the day, Republican Senator Jeff Flake and Republican Senator Chris Coons showed up on the stage. While Flake and Coons discussed the bipartisan compromise of delaying the vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Flake was still met with boos and profanity from the crowd. However, Flake and Coons still delivered their messages and the night went on with more music and more appearances from politicians.

Global Citizen continues to provide a platform for ordinary citizens to work toward goals that affect the whole world. The organization encourages young people to act on the issues of concern to them.