MSNBC’s Global Citizen Festival, an annual concert which raises support for anti-global poverty movements, now proudly boasts Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay as supporters of the cause.

The concert, which will be held Saturday, September 6th in New York City’s Central Park, is a six-hour long show that will air for free on MSNBC’s website. MSNBC is estimating that over 60,000 people alone will visit the website on the day of the show.

“The Global Citizen Festival will channel the power of hundreds of thousands of global citizens, lending their voices to achieve policy and financial commitments that will shape the future,” Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project, told MSNBC.”

Attending the event in person is going to require a bit more participation than simply opening a website, however. Those interested in acquiring tickets to the show must complete five “Action Journeys,” which include calling the State Department and telling them to “commit 50 percent of the U.S foreign aid budget to the world’s poorest countries,” amongst other tasks.

The Global Citizen Festival is coinciding with the announcement of the UN’s new Global Goals program, which is seeking to eliminate global poverty by 2030. According to MSNBC, these goals “carry the promise of equal rights and opportunity for women and men: the promise to live a healthy and dignified life, the promise for every child to survive and thrive.”

Past incarnations of the Global Citizen Festival have proven to be successful. The Global Citizen Organization boasts over $18.3 million in cash donations since 2012.

“By making this call, we will show the U.S. administration that the world is watching and demand concrete solutions that will lead to the end of extreme poverty by 2030,” Evans added.

– Alexander Jones

Sources: Huffington Post, Newsbusters, MSNBC
Photo: Entertainment Weekly