Global Citizen Festival has been canceled due to an extreme weather forecast bearing down on New York City, organizers announced. The event had been scheduled for Saturday at the Great Lawn in Central Park, with a lineup that included Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, and John Legend.
Organizers said the decision marks the first cancellation in the festival's 14-year history. "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," organizers said in a statement. "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."
Ticket holders will be automatically refunded, while those who obtained tickets through a donation will be sent refund options via email. Food that had been prepared for the festival will instead be donated to local organizations across New York City.
Organizers also emphasized the broader mission behind the event, stating, "The Festival is one day, 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."
Beyond the previously mentioned headliners, the canceled bill also included Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey, Tomorrow X Together, Victoria Monét, Yeonjun, Yoshiki, and Alicia Keys performing with friends. Hugh Jackman had been set to host the event.
The cancellation follows a similar decision by organizers of the three-day All Things Go NYC Festival, which was called off just hours before doors were scheduled to open on Friday afternoon, also citing the extreme weather conditions affecting the city.
Photo: Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
