Jensen Kugler
A&E Editor
Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has made headlines for her all-woman music festival, Daisy Chain Fields. What fans may not know is that this event continues the work of another annual festival called Lilith Fair.
On August 29, the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival took place in Irvine, California. Featuring over a dozen performances, interactive installations and special guests, Daisy Chain was a packed celebration of women’s art and community. More than this, it stands as a feminist tour de force in a time of deep political unrest in the United States. The festival raised $20 million for nonprofit partners focused on women’s rights, healthcare and education.
The festival lineup featured young, rising star performers including Rodrigo herself, Chappell Roan and Doechii, alongside industry staples like Stevie Nicks and Sarah McLachlan. The inclusion of punk-rock band Bikini Kill indicates Rodrigo’s own “riot grrrl” sensibilities, positioning her festival in part as a tribute to 90s feminist punk culture. Perhaps a closer comparison, however, is McLachlan’s own Lilith Fair in the late 90s.
Before there was Daisy Chain, there was Lilith Fair, a traveling music festival featuring exclusively female musicians. Like Daisy Chain, proceeds from Lilith Fair performances went to women’s charities. According to Britannica, Lilith Fair “grossed $52 million, donated more than $10 million to charities supporting women’s health and safety and drew more than 1.5 million attendees” from 1997 to 1999. Lilith Fair was the first mainstream American music fest to bring together musicians from a variety of genres for a fully-female set. Unlike Daisy Chain Fields, Lilith Fair was a touring festival, playing 37 dates in its first year alone. Based on the success of its first iteration, Daisy Chain Fields could feasibly be expanded into a touring festival of its own, although this remains to be seen. The variety of performances at Daisy Chain Fields speaks to its potential longevity, perhaps as much as its monetary success.
One element of Daisy Chain Fields that distinguishes it from Lilith Fair is its integration of visual arts. In addition to musical performances, Daisy Chain offered attendees the opportunity to engage with multimedia art installations. Among artists featured were feminist artist collective the Guerrilla Girls and artist-activist Yoko Ono. Each work offered a different experience. The Guerilla Girls invited visitors to make space for their rage via an ‘airing of grievances’ on large-scale chalkboards. Visitors to Ono’s “Wish Tree” wrote their hopes on small pieces of paper to collaboratively cover the tree, creating a “vibrant tapestry of collective dreams, emphasizing the power of shared desires and reflections.” As a whole, the nine featured installation artists celebrate a long history of global women’s art, from “riot grrrl” zines to fine art spaces and large-scale textile work.
An unabashed celebration of femininity, creativity and activism, Daisy Chain Fields has been in the news for all the right reasons. While the future of the festival remains to be seen, the popularity of its first date indicates that this particular flower chain is not going to break any time soon.
