By midday at Daisy Chain Fields, the music was only part of the draw to the festival on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Across Great Park in Irvine, festivalgoers packed into lines for some of the event’s many hands-on activations, leaning into a crafty, DIY spirit that extended beyond the two stages. Fans could personalize pieces, add a little sparkle to their festival looks, or simply find a place to hang out between sets, especially those with shade.
At the Depop Oasis, the resale platform created its own whimsical corner of the festival grounds, complete with red-and-white gingham picnic blankets, oversized flower pillows and grassy mounds dotted with flowers dubbed the “Depop Daisy Fields.” Fans could customize vintage and secondhand camis, trucker hats, T-shirts and bandanas, get hair gems or step inside a “flower shower,” where fabric blooms swirled around them.
For Alexis Simmons, U.S. lead for integrated marketing at Depop, the partnership felt like a natural extension of the brand’s relationship with Olivia Rodrigo and the larger mission behind Daisy Chain Fields.
“When we heard about the Daisy Chain Fields festival, we heard that it was a space where joy, creativity and community could kind of come together in one,” Simmons said. “At the center of Depop is community and creativity.”
That idea of giving something old a new life is part of what Simmons said makes the platform’s community special.
“You always kind of get extra creative when you’re like, ‘Hey, I actually have this thing in my house that I used to love. I no longer wear it anymore, but somebody else could love it,” she said.
The activation was designed with that participation in mind. Beyond customizing secondhand pieces, attendees could lounge in the Depop Daisy Fields or grab popsicles meant to be split and shared with another person. … Whether that was a friend they arrived with or someone they had just met in line.
“Overall, I think realistically, once we also heard that Olivia’s mission for this festival was to give back to a lot of female-owned, founded and also charities, we were like, ‘What better way to get involved?’” Simmons said. “Everything here is being donated.”
That hands-on spirit continued at the Etsy Creative Village, where festivalgoers could shop pieces from Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields collection and take part in activities including customizing items with patches, buttons and embroidery, temporary tattoos and creating junk-journal pages. The collection itself was made in collaboration with 10 women-owned Etsy shops from around the country.
The interest was hard to miss. Long lines formed at several of the activations throughout the afternoon as fans waited for a chance to participate, even as temperatures climbed and shade became increasingly scarce. The heat also added another challenge as the afternoon wore on. Food vendors drew lengthy lines, with some waits stretching well beyond an hour.
Still, the crowds continued to move between performances and the festival’s many creative spaces.
“I feel like we should do this every year,” Mitski told the crowd before her set at the Dandelion Stage late Saturday afternoon.
“No pressure on Olivia,” she continued to laughter from the field. “She’s got her own career going, and this is a full-time job.
“But I think she should, because then we could say we were at the first one. OG DCF. How often do we get the chance to be the first of anything?”
That sense of something extraordinary happening was echoed in sets throughout the festival on Saturday, with different artists expressing it in different ways.
For the punk band Bikini Kill, which launched the riot grrrl movement three decades ago, it was joy that some of what they advocated for had been achieved.
“It’s so cool to look and not have to say, ‘Girls to the front’” Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna said of the band’s old fight to give girls a safe space to rock out at their shows. “Because you’re already [bleepin’] there!”
Of course, the job’s not nearly finished,” Hanna added. And with songs such as “This Is Not a Test,” “Carnival,” and the set-closing “Rebel Girl,” Bikini Kill surely left fans at the Marigold Stage fired up for the fights for equality and against discrimination to come.
Of course, it’s important to have fun, too, Hanna had said.
“For a lot of us, we feel the government obviously wants us dead,” Hanna said. “It makes it hard for me to turn it off and have fun.
“What a gift Olivia has given all of us. I just want us to have fun, like we’re having a basement party.”
The ‘90s alt-rock band the Breeders thrilled fans with songs familiar and brand-new. With Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, her identical twin Kelley on guitar, too, fans sang along to their biggest hit, “Cannonball,” as well as old faves such as “Drivin’ on 9” and “Divine Hammer.”
Their songs aren’t overtly political, but bassist Josephine Wiggs took a moment to speak out for the musical collective action Rodrigo had created.
“Against the dystopian tide, believe that the human ideal is a right, not a privilege,” Wiggs told the audience to its loud cheers. “And thanks to Olivia for inviting us to be a link in the chain and remind us that together we are stronger.”
Fans flock to Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Festival in Irvine
Other bands celebrated the new festival by simply making joyful noise for themselves and the fans.
Santigold’s electronic pop is as fun as it was two decades ago. Newcomers Die Spitz unleashed an unholy racket of glorious metal and punk.
And then there was Devon Again, the stage name of Devon Johanningeier, who was a last-minute replacement when Katseye dropped out after one member suffered a sprained ankle.
“Oh my God, guys, I feel like I’m dreaming,” said Again, who was introduced by three members of Katseye and will open for Rodrigo on her upcoming tour.
“Olivia called me on Thursday night,” Devon continued. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, [bleep], obviously I’m doing it.”