It may be called the Global Citizen Festival, but it’s going to welcome locally bred performer Cardi B to its stage on Central Park’s Great Lawn this year. It appears the Sept. 29 show will be the rapper’s first since she gave birth to her daughter last month.
Joining Cardi B in this year’s Global Citizen Festival lineup will be Janet Jackson, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Janelle Monae, with John Legend popping in for a special guest performance. Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-lee Furness will again serve as hosts. Co-hosts include Camren Bicondova, Cynthia Erivo, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Gus Kenworthy, Kal Penn, La La Anthony, Naomi Campbell and Rachel Brosnahan.
While the Global Citizen Festival promises to offer an unforgettable night of music from Cardi B, Ms. Jackson and the rest of the lineup, music is not all that the free event is about. In fact, it has a very important mission: to end extreme poverty for millions around the world by 2030.
This year’s Global Citizen Festival is a continuation of the organization’s “Mandela 100” campaign, which features a series of activist-driven events across the globe to honor the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. The South African civil rights leader would have turned 100 this year, and the Global Citizen Festival aims to answer his call to be the generation that ends extreme poverty.
The organization also calls on music fans to implore world leaders to end child marriage, address the maternal health crisis, reduce plastics use and provide quality education for all. It also urges Congress to not support the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to American aide programs.
How to get tickets to Global Citizen Festival
Dying to see Cardi B and the rest of the performers at Global Citizen Festival next month? You’ll be glad to know that the Sept. 29 show is free — but you will need tickets.
You can earn them by joining the movement at glblctzn.me/nyc2018 or by downloading the Global Citizen app. Ticket draws will take places throughout the summer, and attendees will be notified by the organization when they’ve been selected.
If you can’t attend, you can watch a live simulcast of the Global Citizen Festival on MSNBC, msnbc.com, YouTube and Twitter.
