To quote the great Fleetwood Mac, "chain keeps us together." And maybe that chain is one made of daisy flowers woven together.
On June 22, Olivia Rodrigo announced Daisy Chain Fields, her new all-female-fronted music festival that’ll take place this August 29 in Irvine, California, for one day only. The festival's net proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations that work to advance and advocate for young girls and women and will feature local vendors and artists as well as educational resources to foster community and further change. With Stevie Knicks set to be a special guest, the festival’s lineup spans across generations, from Bikini Kill and Chappell Roan to Garbage and Doechii. Rodrigo declared in Daisy Chain Fields’s mission statement:
"Daisy Chain Fields is a music festival founded on the belief that joy, community, and creativity can inspire meaningful change. It affirms that music and collective experience can serve as enduring drivers of progress and social change. It’s a place where inspiration and curiosity lead to knowledge, strength, and action… Daisies are wild and beautiful. As a chain, they are strong and unbreakable."
Just last year, Hulu released a documentary directed by Ally Pankiw about the high-grossing all-female rock music festival in the 1990s, Lilith Fair, in which Rodrigo appeared praising the festival and the meaning behind it, referring to the artists that played the festival as her "northern stars". Needless to say, Lilith Fair has been a huge inspiration for Rodrigo and a legacy built by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, which she’s determined to continue and expand to current/younger generations. Despite its success, Lilith Fair ended after only 3 years of touring North America. Today, women reminisce about it with deep fondness because of the great sense of camaraderie it invoked in women and the strong message of resistance it sent to the male-made idea that "you can’t put two women on the same bill because people won’t come." Lilith Fair was the top-grossing festival in 1997.
But these festivals were made to transcend music, and their main purpose will always be to celebrate and bring women together. They have been historically built to create a safe and welcoming space for all in a scene that has been so male-dominated/centered and bring support to queer and female communities by donating profits to charities focused on social justice and helping women. Artists performing at Daisy Chain Fields will do so pro bono, with appearances by Rodrigo and McLachlan themselves. And all proceeds will benefit carefully chosen organizations centered on women and diversity, addressing issues from reproductive and mental health rights to helping mothers cover childcare costs. Some of those organizations include Planned Parenthood, National Women's Law Center, and Black Mamas Matter Alliance. (Full list here.)
The cultural impact of an event like Daisy Chain Fields, which aims to benefit charitable organizations rather than focus on profit, is significant. In an era where music has become overly commercialized, such events help restore a sense of community, human connection, communication, emotion, and joy to music. For young girls everywhere, witnessing and experiencing an event specially made to celebrate womanhood and the art they make can highly change their relationship to themselves and each other. The image of a chain made of daisies highlights the beauty and resilience of something seen as wild yet delicate, but that becomes incredibly strong once unified. With the power of togetherness and resistance, every beautiful daisy can stand in arms with others, dancing with joy and laughter, certain that the chain will keep us together.
