On September 28, 2013, celebrities joined together in Manhattan to help eradicate poverty by 2030. The 2013 Global Citizen Festival, drawing over 60,000 people to the Great Lawn in Central Park, served as both a “marathon music event” and an opportunity to spread an important message.

Mirroring the policy of last year, tickets to the Festival were earned rather than bought. Attendees registered at the Festival’s website, and gained points by completing several awareness-based tasks. Concert-goers were continuously reminded of the core objective of the five-and-a-half hour concert, which coincided with the United Nations General Assembly. “Normal benefit concerts you pay $100, you rock up and that’s the end of it. Here every single one of these 60,000 people earned their way in. They actually had to take action in support of the world’s poor already,” said organizer of the event, Hugh Evans.

Artists like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, and Elvis Costello took the stage, embracing the message of ending global poverty within their sets. Mayer played his anthem of inaction, “Waiting On the World To Change,” reminding audience members that effortlessly observing global issues isn’t going to help fix them. Wonder welcomed secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon to his stage, greeting him with open arms.

Bono, a very active candidate against global poverty, spoke to the crowd about progress that has already been made in Liberia. “Tonight after 10 years there is a country, oh yeah, there’s hope of a future, oh yeah, and above all else there’s peace,” he said. The second annual Global Citizen Festival was a huge success, bringing together celebrities and an audience who are passionate about the same goal–ending extreme global poverty in the near future. It served as a chance to celebrate the strides that have already been made, and as a form of encouragement to keep on fighting.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: tv3, The New York Times, CBS
Photo: Consequence Of Sound