International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced that headliners JANET JACKSON, THE WEEKND, SHAWN MENDES, CARDI B, and JANELLE MONÁE will perform at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival, the free-ticketed event on the Great Lawn in Central Park, New York City on Saturday, September 29, 2018. For the fifth consecutive year, MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal will air a live simulcast of the Festival on MSNBC and for the seventh consecutive year, iHeartMedia has been named the exclusive audio media partner. 

A special guest performance will be given by JOHN LEGEND and Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness return as lead hosts for the 5th year. 

The 2018Global Citizen Festival will serve as a platform from which millions of Global Citizens around the world will demand that world leaders fulfill their obligation to achieve the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and end extreme poverty by 2030. 

Building off momentum by activists and students from across the globe, Global Citizens and music fans will stand together to call on world leaders to uphold their responsibilities towards improving the quality of health care and nutrition that women receive during adolescence and childbirth, ensuring girls do not marry before they are ready, reducing, reusing and recycling plastic waste worldwide, ending the criminalization of poverty, providing quality education for all, and ensuring the United States fully funds its foreign aid budget. 

Coinciding with the annual UN General Assembly meetings, this year’s Global Citizen Festival is a continuation of Global Citizen’s “Mandela 100” campaign; a series of global events honoring the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela in his centenary year. 

In 2018, it is more important than ever for Global Citizens here in the United States and around the world to demand their voices be heard – through activism and at the polls – so that we can continue progress towards a world free from needless suffering and want. We are truly grateful to have such incredible artists, hosts and partners standing with us in a moment of history so pivotal in our fight to achieve the global goals and end extreme poverty – Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen

For the fifth consecutive year, MSNBC & Comcast NBCUniversal will air a live simulcast of the Global Citizen Festival on MSNBC and MSNBC.com. The Festival broadcast will be produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Ken Ehrlich (Grammy Awards).

For the seventh consecutive year, iHeartMedia has been named the exclusive audio media partner and will broadcast live from Central Park on over 150 radio stations across the U.S. and streamed on the iHeartRadio app.

The Festival will also be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter, presented by Johnson & Johnson.