How Historic Was Olivia Rodrigo’s Achievement With Her Daisy Chain Fields Festival? Greatest Pop Stars Podcast

The Daisy Chain Fields festival debuted at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. on Saturday (Aug. 29), with an 11-hour lineup of all female artists and female-led groups, capped by a headlining set from the festival’s founder and curator: Olivia Rodrigo. The day included currently rising artists, minted 2026 stars and — of course for an Olivia Rodrigo festival — plenty of alt-rock veterans, along with a trio of legendary singer-songwriters as special guests during Rodrigo’s set. It was a huge day for pop and rock fans, for Rodrigo herself, and for all-female-led music festivals, which haven’t gotten a spotlight moment quite like this since the Lilith Fair debuted nearly three decades ago.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

On this Pop Star Performance Review episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard deputy editor Lyndsey Havens — who was in attendance for the full-day festival — to discuss the history being made by Daisy Chain Fields, and what it means for one of our current greatest pop stars to be able to present it to the world. (Lyndsey also wrote about the festival for Billboard.)

Along the way, we answer all the most pressing questions about Daisy Chain Fields’ first year: How did the festival experience differ from your average music festival? Were there still groups of dudes in the crowd? Who were the early-day highlights? Did we expect there to be more Dolly Parton tributes over the course of the day than we ultimately got? Which of the older bands seemed to get the best response from the younger folks in the crowd? Did “Ironic” make sense as Olivia Rodrigo’s choice of Alanis Morissette duet? How did Rodrigo’s performance set itself apart from a normal gig of hers? And perhaps most importantly: Are we excited for Daisy Chain Fields to return for a second year — and should it expand to two days or stay at one?

Check it out above, and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!

And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

Destination Tomorrow

Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe

Human Rights Campaign – In Your Area

Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.