Jay Z Headlines Global Citizen Festival In Central Park
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A star-studded concert is taking place in Central Park Saturday in an effort to help end poverty.
Jay Z is headlining this year's Global Citizen Festival, CBS 2 reported.
The rapper will be joined by Carrie Underwood, No Doubt, Tiesto and many others.
The event, now in its third year, aims to promote activism.
Tickets were free, but earned by completing a series of actions to help end extreme poverty.
"People live each day on less than what you can buy in America, less than $1.50 a day," Simon Moss with the Global Poverty Project said, the organization sponsoring the event.
As CBS 2's Matt Kozar reported, more than 50,000 people danced under the starts Saturday night to the music of No Doubt, Alicia Keyes and Fun., just to name a few.
Seven heads of state joined the tens of thousands of people for the concert.
"I think it's fantastic. It's better than most of the concerts I go to, which are just for entertainment. At least there's a little bit of meaning behind this one," concert-goer Yassine Boukadoun said.
"I did a lot of online reading and had to take a couple quizzes and I won tickets, so did my husband," one concert-goer told 1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten.
The attendee said she was going to get more involved in fighting poverty when she returns home to Chicago.
Jennifer is from Connecticut, but people from all over the world traveled to NYC for the concert.
"I think its wonderful, i think we should do it more often," Jennifer said, adding that the concert's line-up was "awesome."
Marjorie Duvalsaint, from Brooklyn, says poverty is rampant in the U.S. too.
"Growing up was very difficult. I had a mother who worked two to three jobs to put food on the table," she told Kozar.
The concert is always held on the closing Saturday of United Nations General Assembly.
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