Global Citizen Festival 2014: Jay Z, No Doubt To Headline

By Jason Lipshutz

The third annual Global Citizen Festival will feature performances from Jay Z, No Doubt and more big names when it returns to the Great Lawn in New York's Central Park on Sept. 27.

Coinciding each year with the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, the Global Citizen Festival will once again be a free ticketed event, with the aim of helping to achieve a world without extreme poverty by 2030. Free tickets are now available at the Global Citizen web site, where users can take "action" by signing petitions and emailing world leaders (among other choices) to earn admission.

Along with Jay Z and No Doubt, Carrie Underwood, fun., the Roots and Tiesto will be performing at this year's event. Last year's Global Citizen Festival included performances from Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and John Mayer.

"It's been fantastic to see the growth of the movement over the past three years, and this year will be our biggest yet," says Hugh Evans, CEO of The Global Poverty Project. "We are incredibly grateful and humbled to have the support of these amazing artists who are at the top of their respective genres, and who share our passion of making a positive change in the world."

The 2014 Global Citizen Festival will specifically focus on extreme poverty to children and young people across the world. Among the "actions" that music fans can complete to gain entry to the festival is the signing of a petition calling on world leaders to contribute to the GAVI alliance, which provides vaccines to children in impoverished countries.

The Global Citizen Festival, which began in 2012, is the most high-profile musical event each year for the Global Citizen movement, although the Global Poverty Project has been launching more music initiatives over the past year. Last month, Global Citizen and the World Childhood Foundation partnered for the inaugural Thank You Festival, which was headlined by Tiesto and held at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The Global Citizen Nights concert series also began in March, and featured performances from artists like the Fray and Allen Stone.

A total of 48,000 free tickets will be given out to this year's Global Citizen Festival. A limited number of VIP tickets will also be available for purchase, with Citi card members having exclusive access to certain VIP offers.

SOURCE: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/6150423/global-citizen-festival-2014-jay-z-no-doubt-to-headline