The Weeknd and Shakira — two of the world’s greatest touring artists — will headline this fall’s Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park, supporting campaigns to enhance power entry throughout Africa and defend the Amazon in opposition to deforestation.
Global Citizen introduced Tuesday that the pop stars behind such hits as “Blinding Lights” and “Hips Don’t Lie” shall be joined by Tyla, Ayra Starr and Mariah the Scientist on the live performance on Sept. 27. Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the annual occasion highlights the anti-poverty nonprofit’s chosen humanitarian priorities and urges attendees to collectively deal with these points via direct help.
“The fact that these artists have immediate proximity to communities that have either recently emerged out of extreme poverty, or are emerging out of extreme poverty, gives them amazing perspective,” Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans advised The Associated Press. “And they bring that perspective into Central Park at this moment where I think the world needs a moment of unity now more than ever.”
The competition’s objectives contain securing commitments to carry clear, dependable power to 1 million folks in Africa; mobilizing $200 million for indigenous and native entrepreneurs to guard an Italy-sized chunk of the Amazon rainforest; and elevating at the very least $30 million to assist community-based education schemes enhance youngsters’s literacy.
Tickets to the competition are free, however followers should earn them by taking actions via the Global Citizen app. Opportunities embody importing movies calling on German and French leaders to again the Amazon safety plan and volunteering to mentor younger folks worldwide in profession improvement.
This 12 months’s calls to motion mirror the altering nature of on-line advocacy campaigns. Organizers discover that social media posts and email-driven appeals do not carry the identical weight as they did when Global Citizen first began rallying concertgoers. Evans stated user-generated content material corresponding to a self-recorded clip creates “quality engagement” and makes it virtually not possible to recreation the system.
In The Weeknd and Shakira, Global Citizen is reuniting with earlier inventive supporters at a time when they’re packing stadiums. The Weeknd, who this month wrapped a four-night run of sold-out performances at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, is donating $1 from each ticket sale to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira, who just lately accomplished seven consecutive sold-out exhibits in Mexico City, joined Coldplay onstage throughout a 2017 version of the competition in Germany.
“Music has always been my way of connecting with people and leaving a mark on the world,” Shakira stated in a press release. “I can’t wait to perform, unite, and inspire action.”
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.