The 2018 Global Citizen Festival took place this past Saturday (Dec. 1) in Johannesburg, South Africa with artists from across genres honoring the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandala’s birth and calling attention to global social activism efforts.
The centennial celebration included a variety of guest speakers such as Oprah Winfrey, and live performances from Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Usher, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and festival curator Coldplay’s Chris Martin, among others. South African acts, including rapper Nyovest, rising rapper/poet Sho Madjozi and DJ/producer Black Coffee also took to the stage.
The festival was hosted by “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, who spent his childhood growing up in Soweto, a South African township located nearby the FNB Stadium, the venue where the event took place.
Unfortunately for those not in attendance, only 25 minutes of headliners Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s set was made available on the livestream. Naturally, the BeyHive was not pleased, taking to Twitter to voice complaints about the limited access.
Days prior to performing, Beyoncé penned an open letter addressed to the late former South African president, thanking him for the life lessons and wisdom he had imparted on the singer, her family and the world at large.
As reported by Global Citizen, this latest installment merging social action and entertainment allowed the non-profit to surpass its goals and it successfully raised over $7 billion USD. Companies such as the World Bank, Vodacom, Cisco, the South African government, PEPFAR, the Motsepe Foundation and more helped contribute to the fundraising effort. Money raised from Global Citizen will be allocated toward various causes such as fighting HIV/AIDS and providing resources to advance education, especially for women and children.
Take a look at some footage from the Global Citizen Festival below.