2023 Global Citizens Festival in Central Park 

By Alanna Contreras 

The 2023 Global Citizens festival took place in Central Park on September 23rd with performances from Anitta, Conan Gray, Sofia Carson, Jungkook of BTS, 3RACHA of Straykids, D-Nice, Ms. Lauryrn Hill, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Global Citizen hosts festivals to bring awareness to three main real world issues: poverty, climate change, and inequity. To bring awareness, the festival offers free tickets for people who take action on their app, through signing petitions and sending messages on social media. Through the actions of the concertgoers, the 2023 Global Citizens Festival raised over $470 million. 

Between each performer, activists, like Bill Nye the Science Guy, Sophia Bush, Padma Lakshmi, and Connie Britton, came out and shared how we can help the world and why it is important to take action. 

Heavy rain poured down during the festival, but many fans still showed up, donning bright ponchos, and had an amazing time in the rain. We had to stand in line for two hours in order to get past security to finally make it where the stage was. Even during the wait on line, though, the crowd was excited, eagerly awaiting the performances. 

Reflecting on the festival, these are my opinions:

• Most Hyped Crowd: Anitta and Jungkook

When Anitta, the first performer, came on, the crowd began to scream with excitement after waiting in line and the general admission area for hours. Anitta’s stage presence was phenomenal; she really knew how to hype up a crowd. A few hours later you could hear the crowd cheering on Jungkook's name when he finally came out. “Still with You”, a relatively sad song, created a special moment for the fans in the rain. He then surprised the crowd by bringing out Latto for “Seven”.

• Most Anticipated: 3RACHA of Stray Kids

Only three of the members were able to show, but by the crowd’s reaction, you could tell that out of all the performers, people were there to see them.

• Best Performance: Ms. Lauryn Hill

Ms. Lauryn Hill performed with an entire orchestra. The orchestra set-up led to a long wait, but she finally made it on stage. Many people were very excited to see her, as she’s considered a favorite childhood hip-hop artist from many concertgoers’ childhood. 

• Best Song Selection: Conan Gray

Once Conan Gray started performing his hit songs “Maniac” and “Heather”, you could hear the crowd pouring their hearts out word for word. 

• Best Dancing: Jungkook

Jungkook wowed the crowd with his amazing choreography especially with his new single “Seven”.