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What Brought 45,000 People to Daisy Chain Fields?
The Music Was Stellar, but Connection and Belonging Were the Stars
By Janeane Bernstein
photo credit: CHAPPELL ROAN_ DASISY CHAIN FIELDS_ANNA DOWNS
What makes 45,000 people travel to Irvine, California, to spend an entire day together at Daisy Chain Fields?
At Daisy Chain Fields, the answer seemed to be more than one thing.
It was Olivia Rodrigo.
It was an extraordinary lineup that brought together artists from different generations and musical worlds.
It was the possibility of seeing women who had shaped music decades ago sharing a stage with artists shaping it now.
It was the mission.
As the lead singer of Garbage said, "a night like this is very important and to be part of this daisy chain that will stick with you for the rest of your self and to know there is community and there is power in the galvanization of women all over the world."
And it was the feeling that this was something you didn’t want to experience through someone else’s Instagram feed—you wanted to be there.
People came from across the country to Great Park in Irvine for the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival. They arrived knowing they were going to spend hours outside in Southern California in August. And when the temperature climbed above 90 degrees, they stayed.
People moved between stages and gathered in spaces dedicated to community, creativity and activism.
The lines to meet the nonprofit partners were huge, which said a lot about what this moment—and what being a woman—means. People weren’t just there for the music; they were there to connect, learn, and support one another. And as one woman told me at the end of the night, “I have never felt so safe in a parking lot at the end of the night.”
And they kept showing up.
Why?
Because for many, this wasn’t simply a concert.
It was a moment they wanted to be part of.
And there was something else drawing people to Daisy Chain Fields: the person who created it.
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Olivia Rodrigo’s Bigger Mission
At just 23, Rodrigo is showing what it can look like to use a platform not simply to entertain, but to give back, create community and make a meaningful difference.
At the heart of it was a bigger mission.
It was driven by a bigger mission: to make women and girls of all ages feel seen, heard and reminded that they are not alone.
At its heart, the festival was built on the idea that joy, community and creativity can inspire meaningful change—using music as a way to bring people together, spark curiosity and encourage action.
Her generosity at Daisy Chain Fields was extraordinary. Rodrigo announced that the festival had already raised $10 million for its nonprofit partners, organizations working on behalf of women and girls.
Then came another remarkable moment.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Daisy Chain Fields
courtesy of Ambrosia.Healy@umusic.com | Daisychain@ledecompany.com
Melinda French Gates joined Rodrigo onstage and announced that she would match the $10 million, adding another $10 million and bringing the total to $20 million dollars.
It was a powerful example of what can happen when generosity inspires more generosity.
One person gives. Another person is inspired to give. One person creates a space for connection, and thousands of people become part of it.
She created room for other artists, other generations, nonprofit organizations, activism, community and giving back.
That says something about the kind of artist—and the kind of person—she truly is.
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A Festival for Women and Girls of All Ages
Walking through the festival grounds, I began to understand why people had come from so far away.
There were women and girls of all ages everywhere.
Mothers and daughters walked together—lots of them. Friends had traveled across the country. Women who had grown up with Bikini Kill, The Breeders, Alanis, Garbage and Sarah McLachlan stood alongside teenagers who had come to see Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan and Doechii.
I found myself wondering about those mothers and daughters.
Was this their first concert together?
Was going to concerts something they regularly did as a family?
Had Mom introduced her daughter to the music, or was the daughter introducing her mother to a new generation of artists?
And maybe that was part of the reason people wanted to be there.
They weren’t just coming to see Daisy Chain Fields.
They wanted to belong to it.
For me, Daisy Chain Fields felt like a reminder that women and girls have rights—and that those rights matter. No matter what people say or try to do to take those rights away, we have to keep showing up for one another.
That’s what made the nonprofit presence at the festival feel so important to me. The lines to meet these organizations were huge. People wanted to learn. They wanted to connect. They wanted to understand what they could do and what resources are available. And they wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves.
We can’t take these rights for granted.
Daisy Chain Fields gave women and girls a place to celebrate who they are, but it also created a space to remind them that their voices matter, their choices matter and their futures matter.
And maybe that is part of the Daisy Chain Reaction, too: women reminding other women and girls that we have each other—and that we have to keep standing up for one another.
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When Music Becomes a Bridge Between Generations
The lineup was stellar—and watching the audience respond to it was just as fascinating as watching the artists perform.
Bikini Kill brought the raw energy and attitude that helped define riot-grrrl and feminist punk. The Breeders brought another wave of alternative-rock history to the stage. Garbage carried that history forward with Shirley Manson’s unmistakable presence. Mitski brought a more introspective energy, while Doechii and Chappell Roan delivered the kind of contemporary performances that made it clear why they belong on a festival celebrating women shaping music now.
Santigold, Rachel Chinouriri, Die Spitz, Quiet Light, Not For Radio, ELI and Devon Again added even more musical voices and generations to the day.
These weren’t simply artists placed on a festival bill.
They represented different moments, sounds and perspectives—and the audience moved between them.
Women who had grown up with bands like Bikini Kill, The Breeders and Garbage were singing along while younger fans were experiencing them for the first time.
You could arrive because you loved Olivia Rodrigo and discover an artist your mother had loved decades earlier.
Or you could arrive with decades of musical history behind you and find yourself standing next to a teenager who was discovering your generation’s music for the first time.
That was Daisy Chain Fields.
The music wasn't separating generations.
It was giving them something to share and connect with.
photo credit: NATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS ALLIANCE
_DAISY CHAIN FIELDS_ MAGGIE LONDON
More Than What Happened on the Stages
The intergenerational spirit extended throughout the festival grounds.
Women and girls gathered at interactive spaces, connected with nonprofit organizations and participated in experiences designed to build community.
Daisy Chain Reaction was the building where all ten of the festival’s nonprofit partners were gathered, giving attendees a chance to learn about their work and the issues affecting women and girls.
People also gathered at Etsy and other interactive spaces, while others lined up to meet representatives from the nonprofit partners.
There was plenty to explore beyond the stages, too. Etsy’s Creative Village brought handmade goods and hands-on activities from women makers, while Depop’s Oasis invited festivalgoers to play with style, creativity and self-expression. Across the grounds, vendors, artists and interactive spaces gave people another reason to wander, discover something new and make the festival their own. It added another layer to the experience: you weren’t simply watching the festival—you were participating in it.
And the line to get into Daisy Chain Reaction was huge. People were waiting to learn, ask questions and connect with the organizations behind the festival’s mission. That stayed with me. The music brought people through the gates, but this was where the mission became tangible.
Now, more than ever, Daisy Chain Fields felt like a reminder that we cannot take the rights of women and girls for granted. We have to stand up for our freedom, our choices, our voices and our futures—and for one another.
The music brought people through the gates.
But once inside, there were opportunities to learn, create, connect and engage.
The generations weren’t separated.
They were moving through the same spaces, listening to one another, learning from one another and, sometimes, simply enjoying being there together.
There were plenty of familiar faces throughout the festival, too. Drew Barrymore was among the celebrity guests, along with Emma Watson, Victoria Justice, Rachel Zegler, Melissa Auf der Maur and Mike Shinoda. Melinda French Gates also joined Rodrigo onstage to announce her $10 million matching gift. Their presence added to the feeling that Daisy Chain Fields was becoming something bigger than a music festival.
The Conversations Beyond the Festival
For me, one of the most rewarding parts of Daisy Chain Fields happened before I even arrived at Great Park.
I was fortunate to interview several of the festival’s nonprofit partners on my radio show, Get the Funk Out, on KUCI 88.9 FM at UC Irvine.
I spoke with Madeline Halperin Robinson of the Center for Reproductive Rights; Emily Escobar of Planned Parenthood; Naomi Giges Downey of Jhpiego; Uma Iyer of the National Women’s Law Center; and Dr. Melissa Walls of the Center for Indigenous Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Each brought a different perspective, but there was a common thread running through our conversations: the issues affecting women and girls are deeply interconnected, and meaningful change requires more than awareness.
We talked about reproductive rights, access to health care, gender justice, Indigenous health and well-being, and the work these organizations are doing every day.
It was a fantastic show.
[Listen to my KUCI conversation with the Daisy Chain Fields nonprofit partners here.]
And we agreed that this was only the beginning.
The nonprofit partners will return to the show for follow-up conversations, allowing us to go deeper into their work and the issues they are addressing.
That feels very much in keeping with the spirit of Daisy Chain Fields.
The conversation continues.
Then came Olivia Rodrigo’s headline performance.
Rodrigo moved through her own catalog before the night became something else entirely.
Sarah McLachlan walked onto the stage.
For me, that was deeply personal.
I had seen Sarah perform at Lilith Fair more than once in the 1990s. Lilith Fair was part of my own musical journey, and seeing McLachlan on a stage created by Rodrigo felt like a bridge between two generations of women in music.
I wasn’t simply watching a young pop star perform with a legendary singer.
I was watching a piece of my own musical history connect with a new generation.
And then came Alanis Morissette.
Jagged Little Pill was my anthem in the ’90s. I saw Alanis twice on the East Coast during that decade, and her music spoke to me in so many ways. “You Learn” was one of those songs that seemed to meet me exactly where I was.
So when Olivia brought Alanis onto the stage, it was another one of those full-circle moments you don’t forget. For a few minutes, I was back in the ’90s.
And then I was watching Olivia, a young woman from another generation, standing beside Alanis and carrying that musical conversation forward.
It wasn’t just nostalgia.
It was lineage.
And then Stevie Nicks joined Olivia.
Together, they performed “Landslide.”
I kept thinking about all the mothers and daughters I had seen throughout the day.
Maybe some mothers had grown up listening to Stevie. Maybe their daughters were discovering her through Olivia. Maybe they were standing next to each other, hearing the same song in completely different ways.
That is what music can do.
A song can belong to one generation and then somehow become yours, too.
Sarah. Alanis. Stevie. Olivia.
Different generations. Different moments in music history. But on this stage, they were connected.
And that connection was happening throughout the festival.
Women who had grown up with Bikini Kill, The Breeders, Garbage and Sarah McLachlan were standing alongside teenagers who had come to see Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Doechii and Mitski.
The music wasn't separating generations.
It was giving them something to share.
One generation passing something meaningful to another.
That, to me, was one of the most beautiful parts of Daisy Chain Fields.
The Daisy Chain Reaction
Daisy Chain Fields was ambitious.
It was beautiful.
It was blisteringly hot.
It was imperfect.
And it was, for a first-time festival, incredible.
And Daisy Chain Fields is worth building upon.
Because Olivia Rodrigo created something that went beyond a lineup.
She created a space where a mother and daughter could stand next to each other and share a song.
Where a woman who grew up with Bikini Kill could watch a teenager discover the band.
Where someone who had experienced Lilith Fair could watch Sarah McLachlan walk onto a stage created by a 23-year-old artist.
Where Jagged Little Pill could collide with Olivia Rodrigo’s generation.
Where Alanis Morissette could share the stage with Olivia.
Where Stevie Nicks could close the night with “Landslide.”
And where music could raise millions of dollars for organizations working on behalf of women and girls.
Because ultimately, this was a reminder of the power of human connection—how music can bring strangers together, bridge generations, and give us a sense of meaning, purpose and belonging.
But it was also a reminder that connection can give us strength.
That we can stand beside one another.
That women and girls deserve to be seen, heard and reminded that their voices matter.
Maybe that was the Daisy Chain Reaction:
One song leading to another.
One generation leading to another.
One conversation leading to another.
One woman reminding another that she is not alone.
One connection creating the possibility for many more.
And perhaps the most important message of all was the simplest one:
You are seen.
You are heard.
You are not alone.
That’s more than a music festival.
That’s a community.
And hopefully, it is only the beginning.
A concert ends.
A festival ends.
Maybe that was the real power of Daisy Chain Fields. The music gave people a reason to come. But once they arrived, they found something bigger: generations of women standing together, people learning from one another, and a reminder that none of us has to stand alone.
photo credit: SANTIGOLD_DAISYCHAINFIELDS_ @IZZYNUZZOPHOTO_IDN_1930
Artists Who Performed at Daisy Chain Fields
August 29, 2026 — Great Park, Irvine
The verified performers were:
Olivia Rodrigo
Chappell Roan
Doechii
Mitski
Garbage
Santigold
The Breeders
Bikini Kill
Rachel Chinouriri
Die Spitz
ELI
Quiet Light
Not For Radio
Devon Again
Special guests who joined Olivia Rodrigo during her headline set:
Sarah McLachlan
Alanis Morissette
Stevie Nicks
Note: KATSEYE was originally announced but withdrew before the festival because of an injury, and Karen O was originally announced as a special guest but did not perform; Alanis Morissette filled that guest slot. I could not independently verify a Daisy Chain Fields performer named “Trashy,” so I have not included that name in the verified lineup.
