On Saturday September 27, 2025 I was able to attend the annual Global Citizen Festival. The Festival took over the Great Lawn in Central Park, bringing together thousands of people to enjoy music, advocacy, and community. The festival, organized by Global Citizen, partnered with brands like Delta, Live nation, Venmo, Bridge water, etc.
To attend the Global Citizen Festival, there were two ways to get a ticket. You could either win a free ticket by downloading the Global Citizen app, where you would take actions such as singing petitions, completing quizzes, and sending letters to politicians to earn points. These points could be redeemed for entries into ticket draws with each entry requiring a specific number of points. Or, you could simply purchase a ticket directly online , which was priced at $99 per person. Regardless of how you obtained your ticket, a printed paper copy was required for entry at the gate.
The Great Lawn offered a spacious and relaxed atmosphere. People brought blankets and chairs to sit back and enjoy the show under the sun, while food stands served deli bagels, sandwiches, sodas, and cookies – perfect for a typical picnic style festival day. Even with a crowd of 60,000 people, the lines were manageable for those who arrived on time, and the vibe was friendly and energetic. Each performance lit up the park with colorful lights, creative stage designs, and incredible visuals that made each art’s set unique and exciting to watch.
Global Citizen is more than a festival – it’s a worldwide movement dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty and promoting sustainable change. The organization started in 2008 as the Global Poverty Project, founded by Hugh Evans, Simon Moss, and Wei Soo, and later evolved into Global Citizen with the help of Michael Sheldrick. Today its headquarters are located in New York City with other offices in Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, Australia, Germany, and the UK. (Global Citizen 2025)
This year’s festival focused on three major goals: restoring the Amazon river, expanding clean energy and water access across Africa, and supporting children’s education. To reach these goals, Global Citizen launched several impactful campaigns including:
- Protect the Amazon ( PTA) campaign raised $280 million in September to safeguard and restore 25 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest.
- New partnerships between the European Commission, Pele Energy Group, Global and Energea will bring clean energy to 4.6 million homes across Africa by 2030.
- Over $140 million was pledged to support children’s education and nutrition, including $30 million dedicated to the FIFA Global Citizen education fund , helping those children without access to schooling.
The festival featured an impressive lineup, including Shakira, Cardi B, Tyla, Ayra Starr, Mariah the Scientist, Camilo, Elyanna. With special appearances by ROSÉ, Rema and Evaluna Montaner. Each artist performed for about 30 minutes, giving the audience plenty of time to sing along and experience their sets. Between performances , the hosts of the festival including Hugh Jackman joined by Bill Nye, Adam Lambert, Danai Gurira, Liza Koshy, Kristen Bell, Lauries Hernandez, Vladimir Duthiers, and more. They all encouraged everyone to take action and become a Global Citizen themselves. They also shared statistics about the funds raised and spoke about new projects and upcoming plans for the future festivals. At one point, the crowd even got an exciting sneak peek at the new mascot for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and learned about its eight different host locations the world cup will take place. Global citizen prize winners Kimani and Rachynska returned to inspire the audience with their stories of leadership and activism, showing how young people can make a difference.
The event was broadcast to millions of viewers across 75 countries and territories through major platforms including Youtube, Apple Music, Twitch, Prime Video, iHeartRadio, and the Global Citizen app and website. For the first time audiences in India could experience the event on a big screen, with PVR INOX Cinemas showing it in theaters the following day. (Global Citizen 2025)
Global Citizen isn’t just about concerts – it’s about inspiring people, especially young generations, to believe that real change starts with small actions. It shows that when people come together, they can tackle challenges like poverty, climate change and inequality. Global Citizen is also a reminder that the power to change the world does not rest only in our hands of governments – it’s in our hands too. By raising awareness, speaking up, and taking actions, we can all be part of creating a fairer, brighter future for everyone. One action and one event at a time.
“The 2025 Global Citizen Festival: New York.” Global Citizen, www.globalcitizen.org/en/festival/nyc/2025/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
