How Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields will recreate the impact, power and joy of Lilith Fair

Tim Mosenfelder/Corbis via Getty Images A symbol of daisy chains sits at the heart of the vision of Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields, a lineup of women and gender diverse musicians who will perform in California this weekend.

Fields of daisies are reminiscent of childhood, a sense of wild and free.

When joined together, daisies become chains – individual links making something surprisingly strong.

A singer-songwriter and actor, Rodrigo is a global megastar of the current pop era.

She references the 1990s music festival Lilith Fair as a major inspiration.

Lilith Fair was a concert tour that performed at more than 130 stops in Northern America from 1997 to 1999.

Across three years, it featured about 300 women artists and drew audiences of more than 1.5 million people.

Like Lilith Fair before it, Daisy Chain Festival is about more than promoting gender equity.

Lilith Fair raised money for local women’s charities; Rodrigo’s festival will be advocating for the rights of women and girls, with profits directed to charities that support reproductive rights, infant care and domestic workers.

At the turn of the century, Lilith Fair carved out space within a male dominated music industry, while supporting broader social issues affecting women.

Now, 30 years on, Daisy Chain Fields acts as its legacy, standing up for gendered rights – both on and off the stage.

Building a mystery The 2025 documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery details the aspiration of musician founder Sarah McLachlan to drive a nondiscriminatory, curatorial approach to gender and genre.

Realising many of the structures of the music industry had been built for men, by men, she set about programming her wish list.

Exclusively featuring women solo acts, or bands fronted by women, Lilith Fair also happened to be the biggest lineup of women in a contemporary music festival.