Citizen Festival: Festival and Interspersing Performances

citizen festival: Interspersing performances from some of the world most sought-after artists with rapid speeches and videos, the fifth edition of the festival put a special focus on solidarity with refugees amid the mass exodus from war-ravaged Syria, according to CTV. Electronic duo Major Lazer kicked off the more than six-hour festival that also brought out leading pop singers Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding and Rihanna -- who noted to the crowd that she herself migrated from Barbados. The Global Citizen Festival, broadcast live from the vast lawn of New York Central Park, distributes tickets to fans who commit to petitions and other actions aimed at ending extreme poverty. Metallica played one of the band few shows ahead of the metal icons' upcoming album, ripping through five of their most classic tunes at a decibel level rarely heard in the halls of international diplomacy. Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder teamed up separately with Yusuf and with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, with whom he sang a two-guitar version of Patti Smith "People Have the Power." Vedder, long outspoken in his left-leaning politics, made veiled criticism of US presidential contender Donald Trump, saying that election-season "bigotry" would not endure in "this modern world of communication and acceptance." "This is one last gasp -- they know that these are antiquated ideals that are going away." Rapper Kendrick Lamar put on the festival most extensive set, culminating in an energetic "Alright," his unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. - Humanizing refugees - In one of the evening more unlikely stars, a six-year-old New York boy named Alex took the stage, waving with precocious grace. Yusuf, the folk rocker known as Cat Stevens before his conversion to Islam, appealed to the crowd to ensure that no one is "stigmatized" on account of identity. "This globe is big enough for everybody to share," he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.