Beyonce, Jay-Z set for Global Citizens Fest Johannesburg

Free-ticketed concert to celebrate centenary year of Nelson Mandela, honoring his legacy in the fight to end extreme poverty

International advocacy organisation Global Citizen has announced that Beyoncé and JAY-Z, Cassper Nyovest, D’banj, Ed Sheeran, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Femi Kuti, Pharrell Williams & Chris Martin, Sho Madjozi, Tiwa Savage, Usher, and Wizkid will headline the first Global Citizen Festival to be held in Africa, a free-ticketed event on Sunday, December 2nd at the FNB Stadium, Johannesburg.

The December event is the culmination of Global Citizen’s Mandela 100 campaign, in partnership with the House of Mandela; a series of global events honoring the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela in his centenary year.

Oprah Winfrey will deliver a special keynote address remembering Nelson Mandela and his legacy. Hosts of the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 include Naomi Campbell, Sir Bob Geldof, Gayle King, Bonang Matheba, Tyler Perry, and Forest Whitaker.

The Festival broadcast will be produced by Ben Winston and Fulwell 73 Productions.

Nelson Mandela famously called for this generation to realise an end to extreme poverty in one of his last public speeches, and Global Citizen has campaigned on this message with activist-driven events in Vancouver, London, Brussels, and at the upcoming 2018 Global Citizen Festival to be held in New York’s Central Park on September 29th.

Activists and music fans can begin to earn their free tickets starting on August 21st and can sign up at globalcitizen.org.za, demanding world leaders make major investments to end extreme poverty and take a stand for women and girls. The Mandela 100 campaign seeks to mobilize USD $1 billion in new commitments for the world’s most marginalized people, with USD $500 million set to impact the lives of 20 million women and girls worldwide. These investments will be aimed at ending hunger and increasing access to good nutrition, ending neglected tropical diseases, reducing HIV transmission rates, ensuring every child receives a quality education, reforming and repealing sexist laws, providing funding for women’s health and family planning, and ensuring access to clean water and safe sanitation world wide.

“Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest examples of resistance, patience, and forgiveness that our world will ever know. It is our great honor to campaign in his name and answer his call to be the generation to end extreme poverty,” states Hugh Evans, Global Citizen, Co-Founder and CEO.

The Festival will be the culmination of a six-months long campaign engaging Global Citizens around the world on seven Global Goals including poverty, zero hunger, health, education, girls and women, water and sanitation and life below water.

Since the first Global Citizen Festival in New York in 2012, Global Citizen has grown into one of the largest, most visible platforms for young people around the world calling on world leaders to honor their responsibilities in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ending extreme poverty by 2030. The organization has taken its action-based model to Australia, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and Canada, and created a platform for activists to learn about the issues they care most about, take action, and earn rewards for doing so.

Global Citizens have generated commitments and policy announcements from leaders valued at over $37.9 billion that are set to affect the lives of more than 2.25 billion people. This year alone Global Citizens have secured 29 commitments totaling over $2.9 billion that are set to affect the lives of more than 501 million people by 2030.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com