10 Hours At Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Festival

One of the first things attendees noticed at Daisy Chain Fields was the buttons. Oversize pins decorated the festival grounds and stages, each representing one of the nonprofit organizations at the heart of the day’s events. It’s no mistake that the visual immediately conjured the long history of protest art, and what it means to turn a deeply held belief into collective action.

That was the mission behind Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural music festival, held in Irvine, California, on Aug. 29. Daisy Chain Fields featured a lineup of female artists like Santigold, Chappell Roan, and Bikini Kill, on the idea that joy, creativity, and community can inspire meaningful change. Their efforts yielded $20 million for organizations supporting women’s health and reproductive justice, plus a full day of joyful singing and dancing for the 45,000 attendees.

You’ve seen the social media clips, but how did it actually feel to spend a full day at Daisy Chain Fields? Here’s my diary from the first-ever festival, including dancing to Doechii, crying to Chappell, and working hard to beat the heat.

9:30 a.m.: Knowing that it’s going to be a warm day in Irvine, I put on a breezy, lacy black dress; tie my hair under a green scarf; and apply plenty of sunscreen. I have a clear festival bag that I stuff to the brim with sunglasses, my ID and credit card, trusty earplugs, Band-Aids, hand sanitizer, phone charger, and more sunscreen. Then, equipped with a coffee, homemade smoothie, and full bottle of water, I start the drive from my apartment in Los Angeles. It takes just over an hour for me to get to the media lot, where I jump on a shuttle that drops me just outside the front gates of the festival. Throughout my journey, the enormous orange hot-air balloon floating over Great Park hangs like a beacon.

11:30 a.m.: By the time I pick up my credentials and get through security, I’ve officially entered just in time to catch Eli’s set at the Dandelion Stage. It’s one of the first of the day, but the grounds are already bustling — people are snapping photos, exploring the art installations, and queuing for merch as Eli energetically sets the tone for the day.

It’s here that I get my first look at the stages on site, decorated with the larger-than-life pins promoting the organizations at the heart of the day: Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood. Ticket sales from the sold-out festival and money from the event’s presenting sponsors like Athleta, Verizon, and Lego were all directed toward these nonprofits.

Quick history lesson: Rodrigo modeled Daisy Chain Fields to recall the spirit of Lilith Fair, the all-female touring festival launched by Sarah McLachlan in 1997 in reaction to the widely held beliefs around women in music at the time. You couldn’t put two women on a bill without it turning into girls’ night; you couldn’t play music by two female artists back-to-back on the radio; and you certainly couldn’t have two women headlining a festival. Rodrigo is a fan of that legacy — she appeared in the 2025 documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery to sing its praises — and she secured McLachlan’s enthusiastic blessing to host Daisy Chain Fields. (More on that later!)

12:30 p.m.: Rachel Chinouriri takes the Marigold Stage in a retro silver outfit that makes her look like a superhero. Despite the temperature already soaring well past 90 degrees, she joyfully proclaims this as the best day of her life. Her set is bubbly and expressive, and when she sings “All I Ever Asked,” the crowd properly begins moving.

I’ve covered a lot of festivals in my time, from stateside offerings like Lollapalooza to efforts in Madrid and Oslo, and it’s during Chinouriri’s set that the idyllic, dreamy nature of the event quickly starts to shine. People are twirling without inhibitions; exchanging bracelets, stickers, and buttons; and lounging comfortably in the coveted shade. It’s easily the most relaxed festival environment I’ve ever witnessed in the United States.

1 p.m.: As I make my way to the media lounge (mostly in search of a cold water), I take a moment to explore some of the art installations: first, a piece of a poem from conceptual artist Jenny Holzer’s Survival series, reading “In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy.” The text has appeared in multiple formats over the years, and here it’s emblazoned in yellow lettering on a hot pink wall. Next is a piece from textile artist Kelsey Merreck Wagner titled “Arachne” that features woven panels across one of the groves of trees in the park. Daisy Chain has also embraced Yoko Ono’s “Wish Tree” project, in which guests write their hopes on paper tags and tie them to tree branches.

1:40 p.m.: I decide to take a lap through the parts of the festival I haven’t seen yet. This includes a number of brand activations, from Taco Bell’s “you seem pretty pink for a Baja Blast” to an Etsy creative village offering customizable safety-pin keepsakes. The number of people I hear buzzing about the Depop Oasis is off the charts.

2:30 p.m.: It’s back to the media lounge for me, where I sit down with Rachel Chinouriri to debrief about her set. While we’re only halfway through the first day of the first-ever iteration of Daisy Chain, she can already see its staying power. “How mental is it that in 40 years, people are going to say ‘Olivia Rodrigo started this festival’ and I’m going to say ‘I was at the very first one’?” she gushes. “I can’t believe in my life I get to be a part of that.”

We agree that there’s something special about the energy at Great Park today. “I love girls, I love women, and I love being a woman,” she says. “You can see the level of love here in the flowers, joy, life, diversity, people, and sunshine today. This couldn’t be more picturesque.”

2:45 p.m.: I then steal a few minutes with Eli, whose glittering eye makeup somehow hasn’t budged an inch even as the temperature keeps creeping higher. “I’m really grateful to be here, even though it’s so hot,” she says. “Today felt cool and scary — a mix of emotions. Having OCD, there’s always so much running through my head, but then there’s the part of me that says ‘This is everything,’ and that shines through. I love singing.”

3:05 p.m.: Even with the water bottles I’m continuously swiping from the media lounge, my energy is starting to lag, so I wait in line for a cold brew as Bikini Kill do, indeed, kill it at the nearby Marigold Stage.

While the vibe at Daisy Chain is undeniably beautiful, the lines quickly become the biggest barrier of the day. As more and more people enter the festival grounds, lines for cold beverages and food balloon to more than an hour. (I wait 25 minutes, most of Bikini Kill’s set, for my cold brew!) No one could have anticipated this level of record-breaking heat in Southern California, and the organizers try to combat this with reusable cups that can be filled up at hydration stations, but they run out of said cups before the sun sets.

The food and beverage vendors (all women-owned businesses) are working their butts off, but many seem limited on staff. Quite a few stalls run out of food. Despite that, many hungry people make the most of it, cheering when someone’s number comes up and they’re finally able to depart with their slice of pizza or basket of fries. It’s the first-ever Daisy Chain, after all, and hopefully this is something that can be managed in future years.

3:45 p.m.: On theme, I wait almost the full length of Mitski’s set for some veggie dumplings, which ultimately do taste better to the sound of “My Love Mine All Mine.”

4:30 p.m.: I make my way back to the Marigold Stage to see The Breeders for the first time. The heat is starting to break, and a magical quality is falling over the Fields. The band’s performance of “Cannonball” becomes a highlight of my day.

5:20 p.m.: As more and more shade starts to stretch across the festival grounds, it feels like everyone is collectively coming back to life, and Doechii’s set supercharges that energy. With her entire body doused in hot pink for the occasion, she descends on Daisy Chain like a comet, working through cuts like “Boiled Peanuts,” “Catfish,” and “Nissan Altima” with her trademark theatricality. What other rapper is performing with full choreography these days? There’s a reason Doechii became the third woman to win in the category of Best Rap Album at the 2025 Grammys.

6:15 p.m.: I continue the series I’ve mentally dubbed Snacks & Sounds with a churro and Garbage. I promise it’s a much better combination than it sounds.

7 p.m.: She’s your favorite artist’s favorite artist, and today, Chappell Roan is in a stunning purple set with her trademark red hair styled in a razor-sharp bop. “Only the hits today,” she tells the ecstatic crowd as she powers through “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” “Femininomenon,” “Hot to Go!,” and “Red Wine Supernova” back to back.

For this set, I'm stationed behind a very sweet couple who appear to be in their 60s. I get the sense they’ve never seen Chappell Roan before, but each time she lets her vocals really rip, they turn to each other with a smile, nodding in that beautiful combination of baffled and thrilled that Chappell seems to elicit from people. I start crying during “Pink Pony Club,” which is embarrassing, but also it’s been a long day and if there was any set to cry through at any festival in the world, why not make it Chappell Roan at Daisy Chain Fields?

7:45 p.m.: I become the first person in history to see a pair of pre-teen girls doing the choreography to “Iconic by Mistake” by Le Sserafim, Katseye, and Illit while a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” plays over the speakers between sets.

7:55 p.m.: I regretfully miss Not for Radio’s set by making one last attempt at food, slurping down some garlic noodles before it’s time for Rodrigo to close things out.

8:40 p.m.: Something that feels crucial to note is that every single set at Daisy Chain Fields starts on time, and that includes Rodrigo stepping out to deliver some thoughtful remarks ahead of her performance. She echoes Chinouriri’s words, describing the day as the best of her life.

8:45 p.m.: Every artist at Daisy Chain Fields appeared for free, and the event raised $10 million dollars. As if that wasn’t incredible enough, Rodrigo invites Melinda French Gates to the stage, where they reveal that Gates will be matching that number, bringing the total donated to a whopping $20 million.

8:50 p.m.: The fun isn’t over yet. Rodrigo gets into the swing of her set with a killer trio of tracks, “Drop Dead,” “Bad Idea Right?,” and “Good 4 U.”

9 p.m.: After an excellent rendition of “Stupid Song,” Rodrigo is joined by Sarah McLachlan for a beautiful moment of torch-passing. The two join forces on “Building a Mystery” and “Angel.” “It’s my job to make you all cry,” McLachlan says with a laugh, and does just that by dedicating the latter song to the queen herself, Dolly Parton.

9:15 p.m.: After working through “Drivers License” and “The Cure,” Rodrigo notes that she’s thinking about all the women who have supported her throughout her life. (Her mother and grandmother are in the audience!) She invites those who attended the festival with a woman they love to share an embrace, and I witness a very sweet moment where a teenager turns to her father who brought her to the fest, gives him a squeeze, and says, “I love you too, Dad.”

9:35 p.m.: While Rodrigo explains that planned special guest Karen O wasn’t able to make it to Daisy Chain at the last minute, she’d prepared another surprise, inviting Alanis Morissette out for a performance of “Ironic.” Morissette has one of the most recognizable voices in music, and it’s a treat to see them perform the iconic hit together.

9:40 p.m.: We get a few more favorites from Rodrigo’s discography before Stevie Nicks (!!) steps onstage in all her ethereal glory. While Rodrigo’s onstage moment with McLachlan felt like her inheriting an all-female festival legacy, this is a different kind of blessing being passed along. The power of women, especially women in music, builds generationally, and every bit of that magic is felt when they perform “Landslide,” dancing together in front of the 45,000 people who came to support the cause.

9:50 p.m.: Rodrigo promises that Daisy Chain will be back next year, and I sure hope it is. It’s a wildly successful day for a first festival, and with some organizational tweaks, it could easily become a staple of the live music world in the same way that Lilith Fair changed the narrative. This is my third time seeing the Guts singer live, and it’s the strongest she’s ever sounded. Maybe that’s just what happens, though, when it’s the best day of your life.