Each year since 2012 Global Citizen Festival has been drawing tens of thousands of guests to Central Park’s Great Lawn to listen to artists such as the Post Malone, LISA (from BLACKPINK), Rauw Alejandro, Jelly Roll, and more. And each year the Great Lawn closes to the public after the event to make any necessary repairs, though this year the lawn will remain closed to the public for longer than expected.
Central Park Conservancy stated that while the Great Lawn was initially supposed to remain closed through Wednesday, October 2nd in order for the lawn to be able to rest and recover post-fest, it will now actually remain closed through late October, at least. And considering the 55-acre Great Lawn already closes each year mid-to-late November through April (reopening for significant snowfall), its delayed post-fest opening date means New Yorkers will lose out on precious time to enjoy a picnic in the fall breeze.
On the bright side, this year’s closure is nothing compared to last year when the Great Lawn sustained damage due to it being soggy from Tropical Storm Ophelia, which showered NYC with four to five inches of rain prior to the event. $622,000 worth of repairs went into fixing the lawn, which remained closed October 2023 through April 2024.
To prevent that from happening this year, Global Citizen Festival worked with NYC Parks to take extra steps leading into, during, and following this year’s festival in order to “take extra precautions for the preservation of the Great Lawn.” This included additional flooring, pre-seeding and conditioning, cordoning off of vulnerable areas, and developing an updated weather management plan. And thankfully, those extra precautions paid off.
Global Citizen Festival released a statement on Thursday, October 3rd, in which they stated:
The initial review looks like there will be only very minimal work needed this year. As always, Global Citizen will pay to fix any of the Great Lawn that needs repairs, and will do so at no cost to the City of New York.
However, a further assessment from NYC Parks decided to push back the lawn’s initial reopening date, at which point they’ll reassess a new reopening date.
A festival spokesperson went on to state how it’s important to note the positive aspects of the festival–Global Citizen is the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty, and this year’s campaign “secured $1 billion in commitments to improve the lives of millions of people across the world, and over the course of its history has mobilized more than $43 billion for the world’s most marginalized communities.”
Global Citizen Festival also released photos of the Great Lawn post festival, and the lawn isn’t looking too shabby! They added:
We are already excited for next year’s show, to welcome back New Yorkers from across the five boroughs for one of the best free concerts available to them, and will continue working with our exceptional partner, NYC Parks.