Daisy Chain Fields Raised $20 Million in One Day. Here’s How Olivia Rodrigo Built It.
Olivia Rodrigo announced Daisy Chain Fields on June 22, 2026, rolling the news out across social media, a Pitchfork interview, and an hour of radio where she played songs by the artists she’d booked. The name refers to a field of daisies strung together, one flower linked to the next.
The blueprint was older. Rodrigo has pointed to Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair, the touring festival that ran through the late 1990s, as the direct inspiration. “Lilith Fair was a huge inspiration in me starting this festival, Daisy Chain Fields,” she told Good Morning America ahead of the show. In her Pitchfork interview, she put it more plainly: she wanted “something really positive to do and see,” and for young girls to have role models who support other women in something joyful and community-oriented.
The Lineup, Minus Two Late Swaps
Tickets sold out in 30 minutes when they went on sale in June. By the time the gates opened on August 29 at Great Park in Irvine, California, the day-of lineup read Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Bikini Kill, Garbage, Mitski, The Breeders, Die Spitz, Devon Again, Eli, Not for Radio, Quiet Light, Rachel Chinouriri, and Santigold.
Two names on the original bill didn’t make it as planned. Karen O was set to join as a special guest before a family emergency pulled her out, so Alanis Morissette stepped in alongside Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks. Katseye’s Megan Skiendiel suffered an ankle injury two days before the festival, so Devon Again took the group’s slot, though Katseye still made a brief onstage cameo ahead of Devon Again’s set.
A Duet Twenty Years in the Making
Rodrigo brought McLachlan out to sing “Building a Mystery” and “Angel,” the second dedicated to Dolly Parton. Stevie Nicks joined her for a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” to close the night. Rodrigo told the crowd she felt like she was dreaming, calling it “the best day of my life.”
Where the Money Landed
The day before the festival, Rodrigo told a press conference of ten women- and girls-focused nonprofit partners that $10 million raised by Daisy Chain Fields would go directly to their organizations. Onstage the next day, Melinda French Gates matched that figure, bringing the total raised to $20 million. Organizers had set the terms months earlier: 100 percent of net proceeds would go to charity, and every artist on the bill performed without pay.
The iHeartRadio Follow-Up
Two days later, Rodrigo sat down with iHeartRadio’s Sisanie for a half hour special built around her festival set, playing live cuts from her new album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” between stories from the day. She called watching Daisy Chain Fields come together “totally surreal,” and said the duet with Nicks was something she’ll never forget.
