Why we need more festivals like Daisy Chain Fields

By Grace Koennecke, Editor-in-Chief

It’s been 27 years since we last witnessed a festival centered around women like Lilith Fair. The music festival, co-founded by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, was the first of its kind to feature only female artists or women-led bands. It lasted from 1997 to 1999, featuring artists such as Fiona Apple, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Crow, and Indigo Girls.

According to History, Lilith Fair earned a total of $52 million by the end of its two-year run, with more than $10 million of the proceeds donated to women’s charities. 

McLachlan, alongside co-founders Terry McBride, Dan Fraser, and Marty Diamond, decided to discontinue the festival due to burnout. Lilith Fair attempted to make a comeback in 2010, but it led to several cancellations as a result of high ticket prices and the music industry rapidly changing.

Lilith Fair was unique in the fact that it uplifted women from different backgrounds and musical genres, all while giving back to organizations dedicated to women. It allowed women to feel safe in a music setting that was free from what many women had been experiencing at music festivals where, most of the time, men were present. 

As younger generations of female artists have taken over the mainstream since the festival’s end, one of them has followed in McLachlan’s footsteps to reignite the need for another festival like Lilith Fair: Olivia Rodrigo.

Rodrigo recently founded and hosted her first Daisy Chain Fields, a charitable, one-day music festival set in Irvine, California. In a recent interview with “Rolling Stone”, Rodrigo said the inspiration to create her own music festival was because of McLachlan and Lilith Fair, wanting to recreate the joy and community that was built back in the late 1990s amongst female music lovers.

The festival features an all-female lineup, including Bikini Kill, Chappell Roan, Devon Again, Die Spitz, Doechii, Eli, Garage, Mitski, Not For Radio, Quiet Light, Rachel Chinouriri, Santigold, The Breeders, and special guests McLachlan and Stevie Nicks. Rodrigo also performed.

Since its debut on August 29, 2026, the singer has made history, bringing in a total of $10 million initially due to ticket sales and proceeds, which was quickly doubled after Melinda French Gates and Pivotal Ventures matched the funds. All of the funds raised were donated to 10 charitable organizations, such as Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights. 

Additionally, all of the artists Rodrigo recruited to perform agreed to do so for free, as the singer believed that all of the money raised should go towards the organizations previously mentioned. This sentiment alone has strengthened the support for Daisy Chain Fields, creating a new precedent for female artists to be using their platforms to advocate for change and a more equal world in a politically turbulent time.

The success of Daisy Chain Fields proves that there is an audience out there who cares about creating inclusive spaces for women, willing to put their money towards causes that advocate for women’s issues, as well as great musical performances. It also proves that many female artists are willing to organize and unify outside of their busy schedules to support one another and be symbols of advocacy, confidence, and strength for all generations of women to look up to.

Rodrigo’s values have also been made clear in a society where many fans are looking to their favorite artists, who have more money and leverage to enact change, to simply speak up and do more. At just 23 years old, the singer has quite literally put her money where her mouth is, organizing a music festival with her own income to uplift women and the many injustices we are currently facing in a new wave of post-COVID conservatism.

In all, Daisy Chain Fields represents so much more than just music. It is a representation of womanhood and the strength and unity found in finding solace in other women and the issues we all face together. It is a celebration of being a woman and the women who have soundtracked our lives. It’s a magical, amazing feat that could only be pulled off by women, and it is now looking to become the blueprint for similar endeavors in the future.