Daisy Chain Fields: by now many have heard the name scattered around social media and mentioned in office workrooms and classrooms around the nation. The sound of the name alone resurrects a feeling of girlhood. Images are brought to mind of skipping through a wide-open space filled with flowers alongside your best friends.
This imagery is not far off from the truth as Daisy Chain Fields is a music festival founded by Olivia Rodrigo with the mission to cultivate joy and shared understanding, creating space for meaningful moments of connection across generations and communities. The festival which took place Saturday August 29th in Great Park in Irvine, California featured an all-female lineup where the net proceeds were directed toward nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing and advocating for women and girls. The lineup featured fourteen different artists spanning musical genres including: Chappell Roan, Doechii, Not for Radio, Garbage, Bikini Kill, Santigold, Devon Again, Die Spitz, Mitski, Eli, Quiet Light, Rachel Chinouriri, The Breeders, and of course Olivia Rodrigo herself.
This weekend Setlist headed to the festival to see if we could witness some of the magic for ourselves. From the moment of arrival, the festival’s mission statement was immediately clear as thousands of fans of every age, race, gender and style gathered outside the gates. We interviewed fans before going in and the general sentiment was that everyone was very excited for the day ahead. Two sisters shared that they had traveled in from Georgia together for the event, while right behind them was a father and his grown children that were local to Irvine, California where the festival was held. Whether fans traveled miles to be there or gathered their closest family and friends to rally for a day in the summer sun - one thing was ultimately true: everyone felt so lucky to be there. While this is not the first festival to secure an all-female lineup, the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival is a historic moment in not just music history, but history in general. The festival ear marks how far society has come while still fighting for change and peace to come.
The first music festival to rock a lineup of all women was Lilith Fair founded by Sarah McLachlan in 1997. After experiencing massive pushback from the music industry on promoting more than one female artist at a time on radio, at labels, and on music festival lineups – Sarah McLachlan did something groundbreaking. She refused to allow systematic misogyny and racism force people to choose just one favorite female artist. Lilith Fair set out to prove that it is possible to make space at the table for artists and people of all kinds, not just in music but in every area of life. The festival was wildly successful with the first event hosting 15,000 people. Flash forward to Sunday August 29th 2026, where Daisy Chain Fields festival welcomed approximately 45,000 guests. Tickets for the festival sold out in 30minutes proving massive demand.
Upon entering the festival grounds at Daisy Chain Fields, fans were immediately met with Yoko Ono’s ongoing art installation “Wish Tree.” Trees with puffy pink flowers provided shade while fans wrote wishes on slips of paper and then hung it on a tree amongst thousands of others. The installation’s intention was posted with the quote, “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” The collection of wishes, dreams, and hopes for the future was the perfect way to welcome fans into the space focusing everyone’s minds on the greater mission of the day.
Everything onsite from the food vendors to the activations to the Daisy Chain Reactions foundation room was thoughtfully crafted with the idea of cultivating community and creativity. An Esty village invited guests to shop from small female founded businesses along with customizing and making their own creations inside. Meanwhile lunch offerings were available from a majority of female founded businesses as well. We stopped by Salt and Straw to try their unique Daisy Chains Fields custom “Marigold ice cream sundae” to cool off between sets. The ice cream proved to be just as sweet and consistent in theme as the rest of the festival. A sugar cookie dough ice cream topped with buttercream frosting and pink sprinkles.
From there we walked through a garden of hand-crafted giant flowers to catch Die Spitz on the Marigold stage. If these descriptions sound like a fantasy land, it should. The festival was equal parts dreamlike while also confronting harsh truths and realities that many guests and the festival’s charity partners face every day. A perfect balance and representation of anger and hope despite it all. Die Spitz embodied these sentiments onstage as they screamed passionately into the mic and then pausing for quick moments of giggling and fun between the band and audience. Each member of the band had their own style and yet are great friends and collaborators. They are a beautiful example of how to embrace and hold multiple truths at the same time. They ended their set inviting everyone to form a circle. Fans ran around together throwing their bodies from side to side in joy and rebellion. As the hot sun beat down, fans chose to use their energy for freedom and united movement.
The next set we caught was Bikini Kill. For a festival founded by a pop icon in her early 20’s the inclusion of acts like Bikini Kill and Garbage again reinstated the intention of the festival to unite multi-generations of women to engage in meaningful discourse. Bikini Kill shows up to the stage with true punk energy defying any notion of what it means to be a polite quiet girl. They are bold, loud, and sometimes crass but never without an open mind. At one point during the set before playing, “Feels Blind” lead singer Kathleen Hanna shared the song emerged from a journal entry in her diary after a demoralizing experience of being hit on by an older man when she was only seventeen years old. She encouraged the audience that those little things written in journals are your art, they are important, and no one should crinkle them up and throw them away. Their performance ended with inviting the band Emily Sassy Lime to join them for the song “Rebel Girl.” Everyone walked away from their set with their head held a little higher.
A complete genre juxtaposition came up next with Doechii’s performance on the dandelion stage. And while different genre and eras of music, the same acts of wild rebellion were present on stage. For those that have never seen Doechii perform live, she enters the room unabashedly confident and creative. For her Daisy Chain Fields set Doechii opened with the song, “ExtraL” greeting the crowd by chanting the lyrics, “Do my ladies run this” while a group of all female dancers emphasized the moment. The song then seamlessly led into a cover of “Run the world” by Beyoncé. Doechii understood the assignment. All women’s festival? Let’s do this. Completely painted pink Doechii energetically danced through her entire set while simultaneously finding moments in-between lyrics to amp up the crowd. At one-point Doechii even paused to do a call and response with the crowd having everyone repeat affirmations. She did not miss a beat and neither did the audience. We could not get enough of Doechii. At the end of her set, she introduced each of her dancers and then said, “And of course don’t forget about me – the star!” One final act a woman is told to never do but she did it anyway. Doechii showed everyone watching how to claim what is yours and bravely walk in confidence.
Next to take the Dandelion stage was highly anticipated Chappell Roan. Throughout the day the most consistent answer from fans was how excited they were to see Chappell’s set. After many successful festival moments, Chappell did not disappoint with her performance at Daisy Chain Fields. Opening with songs like "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl" and "Femininomenon" the lyrics were an ultimate match to encapsulate the day. Throughout her nine-song set Chappell and the crowd were jumping and dancing the entire time. A pop performance dream.
After the set, many fans camped out for an hour at the Dandelion stage to wait for Olivia Rodrigo. During this time acts of kindness shined as women passed around water and handmade gifts to one another like bracelets and pins. It was encouraging to witness how a day spent pouring into community and art could actually influence small actions in the same day. Finally it was time for Olivia Rodrigo to take the stage. Two minutes before expected she walked out in a simple white dress with a microphone. No big hidden entrance. No fireworks. Just a woman and her word. Olivia announced that the festival had raised 10 Million Dollars for their charity partners, but on top of that Melinda Gates had agreed to match whatever the festival raised. Olivia welcomed Melinda to the stage as they announced the updated total of funds raised to 20 million Dollars. With gratitude and excitement then Olivia began her performance.
Olivia opened her set with new song “drop dead” twirling around wistfully and joyfully as the crowd sang along. Her seventeen-song setlist included a mix of new songs and old favorites while accompanied by an all-female band. Olivia performed a live debut of her song, “Serena Joy” a song created specifically to raise funds for the same charity partners at the festival. Then it was time for her to reveal her very special guests. Olivia first welcomed Sarah McLachlan to the stage. As she did, she spoke on how Sarah and Lilith fair paved the way for artists like her and for festivals like Daisy Chain Fields. From there they performed a duet to “Building a Mystery” and “Angel” in dedication to Dolly Parton. Upon the songs close a moment of silence allows fans to process everything that had just been said and felt. Olivia picked up her set with “Honeybee,” “Driver’s License,” and “The Cure” from the piano. She shared that her own mother and grandmother were in the audience that night.
Then came the guest no one expected. Olivia delivered the bad news that Karen O was not able to attend that evening as originally planned but then surprised everyone by welcoming Alanis Morrisette to the stage. The duo performed “Ironic” together perfectly harmonizing and staring into one another’s eyes. The image of the two pop-rock icons mirroring one another once again brought to mind the intention of multi-generational community and songs shared between women of all ages. Alanis in many ways was the Olivia Rodrigo of her generation and yet there is space today for them both to take the stage together in unity. Olivia played a few more fan favorite tracks then ended the night with a peaceful goodbye. For her final special guest Olivia Rodrigo was joined by Stevie Nicks to play “Landslide” together. A song that provides a look into our own childhoods and attempts to reconcile with how to move forward. The lyrics provided an emotional and impactful way to sum up and reflect on all that Daisy Chain Fields had presented that day, and how to go forward from that space. Olivia Rodrigo closed the night by thanking everyone and announced that she would see everyone next year.
From Setlist’s point of view the festival delivered on everything it set out to do and we were so thankful to be a part of this moment in history. Will you be attending Daisy Chain Fields 2027?
