Daisy Chain Fields in Irvine: Olivia Rodrigo's sold-out festival debuts with a major lineup and a last-minute lineup change
The inaugural edition of the Daisy Chain Fields festival, launched by Olivia Rodrigo, takes place on August 29, 2026, at Great Park in Irvine, in the U.S. state of California. The one-day event is conceived as a major gathering of female artists and female-fronted bands, but also as a charitable platform whose net proceeds are directed to organizations dedicated to the rights, health, safety and economic standing of women and girls. The City of Irvine and the organizers state that the festival features performances on two stages, nonprofit and educational programming, art installations and community-focused programs. Public interest proved exceptional as soon as tickets went on sale: according to a report by Rolling Stone Australia and other media reports, the available tickets sold out in approximately 30 minutes, while the City of Irvine officially described the festival as sold out ahead of the event. A significant program change also occurred in the final stage of preparations because KATSEYE canceled its performance following Megan Skiendiel's injury, and the organizers added Devon Again as a replacement.
Sold out in approximately half an hour
Daisy Chain Fields was announced on June 22, and presale began on June 24 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. According to Rolling Stone Australia, all ticket categories offered moved to the waitlist approximately half an hour after sales began, immediately giving the new festival the status of one of the most anticipated music events of the American summer of 2026. Demand was further confirmed by the fact that a limited additional allotment of tickets was offered in early July, but the festival was once again marked as sold out ahead of the event. An official City of Irvine announcement from August 20 states that Great Park will be closed to regular visitors on August 29 and accessible to festival guests, with special traffic arrangements in the surrounding area. For an event being held for the first time, the speed of ticket sales shows that the combination of major names, a clear social purpose and a rarely seen intergenerational lineup generated interest long before the gates to the festival grounds opened.
A program connecting Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Doechii and music veterans
Olivia Rodrigo is at the center of the program and will close the evening on the main Dandelion Stage, preceded by Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill, Garbage, The Breeders, Santigold, Rachel Chinouriri, Die Spitz, Eli, Quiet Light and Not For Radio. Special guests Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks have also been announced for the final part of the program, allowing the festival to connect performers from different generations, from contemporary pop and hip-hop to alternative rock, punk and the singer-songwriter tradition. In its first official announcement of the event, the City of Irvine highlighted the breadth of the lineup as one of the festival's main elements, while the official festival website lists a total of 14 performance slots spread across two stages. Such a structure allows artists who currently fill the largest arenas and festivals to appear alongside bands that have influenced the alternative and feminist music scene for decades. Daisy Chain Fields therefore does not rely solely on the current popularity of its founder, but attempts to create a program in which contemporary mainstream music, alternative music and the history of female authorship are presented as part of the same story.
Sarah McLachlan holds a special place in that story. In an interview with ABC News, Rodrigo said that Lilith Fair, the touring festival launched by McLachlan in the 1990s, was a major inspiration for Daisy Chain Fields and that McLachlan was the first person she called when she decided to launch her own festival. In its time, Lilith Fair became a symbol of efforts to give female performers greater visibility in an industry that often operated on the assumption that having multiple women on the same bill was not commercially viable. Daisy Chain Fields does not copy that model literally, but clearly uses it as a starting point for the idea of a shared space in which different generations of female artists are not pitted against one another. Rodrigo emphasized to ABC News that the message of collaboration and support among women is important to her, and McLachlan will join that idea as a special guest on stage as well.
All performers appear without fees, while net proceeds go to nonprofit organizations
The charitable component is not a secondary addition to the program, but one of the fundamental reasons Daisy Chain Fields was launched. According to ABC News, Rodrigo confirmed that the performers on the bill are appearing without fees, while the organizers state that 100 percent of the festival's net proceeds will be directed through the Daisy Chain Fields Fund to organizations working with women and girls. The official festival website lists ten beneficiary organizations: Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood. Their work covers various areas, from assistance to children and mothers and the protection of reproductive rights to combating domestic violence, improving healthcare, workers' rights and legal protection for women. In this way, the festival uses the commercial potential of a major music event to fund a broad range of social programs, instead of reducing its charitable component to a symbolic donation.
At the same time, the festival is conceived as more than a series of concerts. According to official information from the organizers and ABC News, the event grounds are set to feature nonprofit organization activations, educational resources, artistic and community programming, local vendors and immersive installations. The official website particularly highlights creative spaces and offerings from female makers and entrepreneurs, extending the festival's social theme beyond the stage. Rodrigo explained that the name Daisy Chain Fields came from the image of girls making flower chains or friendship bracelets together, or from the idea that individual links can form a larger chain. Such symbolism fits into the festival's broader concept, which seeks to combine popular music, community and concrete funding for organizations with a public mission.
KATSEYE canceled its performance following Megan Skiendiel's injury
The biggest change to the program occurred immediately before the festival. KATSEYE withdrew from its planned performance after Megan Skiendiel sprained her ankle during a rehearsal for the upcoming tour. According to Pollstar, the group member was examined after the injury, and doctors recommended that she avoid putting weight on the injured leg so that it could heal properly before the tour begins. In a message posted on social media, the group expressed regret over the cancellation, with particular emphasis on the fact that the decision was being made to give Skiendiel enough time to recover. Pollstar states that KATSEYE's tour is scheduled to begin on September 1 in Dublin, making the risk of performing just a few days after the injury especially sensitive. The cancellation therefore came at a very inconvenient moment, but the organizers did not leave a gap in the program.
Devon Again, an alt-pop artist already connected with Olivia Rodrigo's upcoming concert plans, was added to the lineup. According to Pollstar, she was chosen as the replacement following KATSEYE's withdrawal, and the schedule was then adjusted to preserve the full-day structure without overlapping performances. Devon Again was therefore given a 1:05 p.m. slot on the Dandelion Stage, while Santigold was moved to the 2:15 p.m. slot originally reserved for KATSEYE. The other key slots remained unchanged, with Mitski performing at 3:40 p.m., Doechii at 5:20 p.m., Chappell Roan at 7 p.m., and Olivia Rodrigo and the special guests closing the main program from 8:40 p.m. to 10 p.m. The change was announced early enough for visitors to adjust their own plans, while the festival preserved its basic idea that audiences should not have to choose between simultaneous performances during the day.
Two stages, but no overlapping performances
One of Daisy Chain Fields' more unusual production decisions is a schedule in which performances on the Dandelion and Marigold stages alternate instead of taking place simultaneously. When publishing the set times, NME highlighted that all 14 slots are arranged so that they do not overlap, and the updated schedule following KATSEYE's withdrawal retained the same principle. This means that visitors, at least according to the official schedule, can watch every performance throughout the day without the usual festival dilemma of choosing between artists on different stages. For a one-day festival with an exceptionally strong lineup, the decision also makes programming sense: audiences are encouraged to follow the full cross-section of performers rather than only a few of the biggest names. At the same time, it reduces the risk of smaller or earlier performers finding themselves in direct competition with established stars.
Dandelion Stage – updated schedule:
- Eli: 11:55 – 12:25
- Devon Again: 13:05 – 13:35
- Santigold: 14:15 – 14:45
- Mitski: 15:40 – 16:20
- Doechii: 17:20 – 18:00
- Chappell Roan: 19:00 – 19:40
- Olivia Rodrigo and special guests: 20:40 – 22:00
Marigold Stage:
- Quiet Light: 11:20 – 11:50
- Rachel Chinouriri: 12:30 – 13:00
- Die Spitz: 13:40 – 14:10
- Bikini Kill: 14:50 – 15:30
- The Breeders: 16:30 – 17:10
- Garbage: 18:10 – 18:50
- Not For Radio: 19:50 – 20:30
The schedule also clearly shows how the climax of the evening is organized. After Chappell Roan's set on the main stage comes Garbage on the Marigold Stage, followed by Not For Radio and then the closing block featuring Olivia Rodrigo and the special guests. According to announcements from the organizers, Karen O, Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks have special guest status, but individual details of their joint performances with Rodrigo were not announced in advance to an extent that would allow songs or the exact order of guest appearances to be reliably specified. It is therefore safest to expect their contributions to be concentrated in the festival's closing slot, as indicated by the official schedule.
Great Park is transformed into a large concert venue for the festival
Daisy Chain Fields takes place at Great Park, a large public space in Irvine in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. The City of Irvine stated that special operating arrangements for the park and surrounding roads are planned for the festival, including closures of parts of Great Park from August 24 to September 2 for the installation and removal of festival infrastructure. The entire park is closed to regular visitors on August 29 and is accessible only to event guests, while certain surrounding roads are closed from the evening of August 28 until the morning of August 30. The officially announced festival hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., so visitors are advised to plan their arrival in advance and expect heavier traffic. For those arriving from outside Irvine, accommodation in Irvine and around Great Park may also be useful, especially because of the full-day program and the late finish of the main performance.
Alongside parking, the organizers have also provided park-and-ride transportation from several locations in Orange County, while heavier traffic is expected around the festival zone. According to information from the City of Irvine, closures include sections of Marine Way, Skyhawk, Bosque and other access routes, while residents of nearby neighborhoods have been given special local access arrangements. Such measures show that Daisy Chain Fields, although a one-day event, goes beyond the production scale of a smaller concert and requires the multi-day repurposing of part of a public space. For visitors, this means that transportation planning should be just as important as planning the music schedule.
A festival positioning itself between a major pop event and a social initiative
Daisy Chain Fields enters the festival calendar with several features that distinguish it from the standard commercial format. The lineup is led by one of the biggest pop stars of her generation, but alongside her, performers and bands from different musical eras are highlighted equally, from Stevie Nicks and Sarah McLachlan to Bikini Kill, Garbage, Mitski, Doechii and Chappell Roan. Net proceeds are not intended as an additional donation after the event, but as a central part of the festival model, and according to Rodrigo's statement to ABC News, all performers agreed to appear without fees. In addition, the non-overlapping schedule attempts to direct audiences toward the entire program, while nonprofit organizations and educational content give the festival a function extending beyond the concert day. The rapid sellout shows that there is a strong audience for such a concept, although only after the event will it be possible to assess whether Daisy Chain Fields will develop into a long-term festival platform.
For now, it is certain that the debut edition has attracted far more attention than entirely new festivals usually receive. In just over two months from announcement to the event, the organizers sold out the tickets, assembled a lineup combining current stars and influential predecessors, defined a charitable fund with ten partner organizations and adjusted the program following the unexpected cancellation of one performer. Replacing KATSEYE with Devon Again did not alter the event's basic structure or its message, and the updated schedule retained the complete sequence of non-overlapping performances. If the first edition proceeds according to plan, Daisy Chain Fields could become an example of how a major pop event can be connected with a clear social purpose without sacrificing an ambitious festival program. Ahead of the opening of Great Park's gates, it is precisely this combination of musical prestige, a charitable model and strong public interest that makes it one of the more notable new American festivals of 2026.
Sources:
- City of Irvine – official festival announcement, date, location, initial lineup and beneficiary organizations (link)
- City of Irvine – information about the sold-out event, operating hours, Great Park closure and traffic arrangements (link)
- Daisy Chain Fields – official information about the festival, programming and charitable mission (link)
- Daisy Chain Fields – official list of nonprofit partners and allocation of net proceeds (link)
- Good Morning America / ABC News – interview with Olivia Rodrigo about the influence of Lilith Fair, fee-free performances and the festival's goals (link)
- Rolling Stone Australia – report on tickets selling out in approximately 30 minutes (link)
- Pollstar – confirmation of KATSEYE's cancellation following Megan Skiendiel's injury and the addition of Devon Again as a replacement (link)
- Time Out Los Angeles – updated set times following the lineup change and practical information about the festival schedule (link)