The organizers of two New York City outdoor festival – the Global Citizen Festival and the All Things Go music festival – have canceled this weekend’s events due to forecasts of extreme weather caused by the unusual September Nor’easter expected to hit the East Coast.
“Due to the extreme weather forecast for New York City this weekend, we have made the difficult decision, in consultation with the City of New York and NYC Parks, to cancel this year’s Global Citizen Festival,” organizers said. “Forecasts predict dangerous conditions and circumstances in which we cannot safely bring tens of thousands of Global Citizens, artists, crew, vendors, partners, and staff onto the Great Lawn, let alone all of the equipment required.”
The statement continued, “Safety has to come first. This is the first time in 14 years we’ve had to cancel. We have spent this week working through countless contingencies, which were ultimately not possible, and cancelling is a decision we have not taken lightly.”
Watch on Deadline
Earlier today, the weekend-long All Things Go NYC Festival scheduled for New York’s Forest Hills Stadium was canceled due to the weather predictions. The open-air music fest was to have featured performances by Zara Larsson, Lola Young, Brandi Carlile, Ethel Cain, Muna, Carly Rae Jepsen, Rebecca Black, Cara Delevingne, Blue DeTiger, Chloe Qisha, CMAT, Jensen McRae, Meg Stalter, Natalie Jinju, the Beaches, Hemlock Springs, Grace Ives and Cherry Bomb.
“The safety of our fans, the artists and local crew is our top priority,” All Things Go organizers said on Instagram (see the message, including refund info, below). “We don’t really know how to put into words how heartbroken we are. Thank you for understanding, and thank you to the fans, artists, and crews who make this festival what it is.”
The annual Global Citizen festival, which raises money and awareness to end extreme poverty around the world, was to have taken place this year on Saturday, September 26, on the Great Lawn in Central Park. Hosted by Hugh Jackman, the festival was to have featured appearances by Alicia Keys, Yeonjun, Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey and Tomorrow X Together, among many others.
Following the success of the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show, which was produced by Global Citizen and helped raise $60 million for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, this year’s festival was designed to raise awareness and raise funds for childrens’ global educational opportunities, smallholder farmers and electricity for 2.5 million homes.
According to Global Citizen, the organization over the last six weeks has secured $208.8 million in financial commitments to help more than 2 million children access education and stay in school, and support 7.5 million people, including smallholder farmers, women, youth, and indigenous communities. Ireland and Canada committed $151.6 million to help children get in and stay in school; and Burundi, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, the Minderoo Foundation, and the Green Climate Fund will support small farming businesses.
“The Festival is one day,” the organization said, “but the actions you took and the impact you created will reach far beyond Central Park. Conflict, extreme weather, and rising costs are forcing millions of families from their homes, disrupting education, threatening food supplies and pushing communities back into extreme poverty, but we have seen what is possible when we take action together.”
Tickets to the Global Citizen Festival were free and could be secured by visiting the Global Citizen app and earning points by completing “action journeys” related to the core issues.
“You took action to earn your tickets,” today’s statement said. “You made plans, booked travel, and in many cases came to New York from across the country and around the world to be with us in Central Park, and we are sincerely grateful for your commitment to our mission.”
Festival tickets that were purchased outright will be refunded automatically. People who made a donation to secure tickets can also receive refunds, with email instructions being sent to outline options.
Food that was due to be available at the Festival will be donated to local organizations serving the people of New York City.
“We are enormously proud of what we have achieved together this year – one of the most impactful years for our movement around the world – and we are deeply grateful to every artist, world leader, partner, crew member, vendor, global citizen, and our team,” Global Citizen said, adding that the festival “will be back in Central Park next year.”
