Olivia Rodrigo's New Festival Gave Me Flashbacks To Taylor Swift's Lover Fest

Olivia Rodrigo’s newest project might sound a little familiar. On June 22, the singer announced that she’s made one of her longtime dreams come true by creating a new music festival, Daisy Chain Fields, that puts a modern spin on the iconic ‘90s Lilith Fair fest, with an all-female lineup and net proceeds going to non-profit organizations for women’s advocacy.

Naturally, Rodrigo will headline the festival, featuring fellow pop sensations Chappell Roan, Doechii, and KATSEYE; indie darlings Mitski, Santigold, and Not For Radio; rock bands that inspired her, like Bikini Kill, Garbage, and The Breeders; and up-and-comers Eli, Quiet Light, Die Spitz, and Rachel Chinouriri. To round it out, legends Stevie Nicks, Karen O, and Sarah McLachlan (who founded Lilith Fair) will make special guest appearances.

And yes, this is all taking place on one day — Aug. 29 in Irvine, California — which makes the lineup even wilder. However, it also reminds me of something potentially incredible that slipped through music fans’ fingers: Taylor Swift’s Lover Fest.

Back in the good ol’ days of yore (fall of 2019), Swift announced Lover Fest, her own bicoastal music festival for her album Lover, rather than a large-scale world tour. Lover Fest East was set to take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts (an iconic venue in the Swiftie fandom), while Lover Fest West was meant to be the first concerts at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, making her the first female artist to open an NFL stadium.

After headlining her first-ever festivals across Europe over the summer, Swift wanted to stage her own festival when she returned stateside, billing the show “Taylor Swift and Friends” with the aim of curating her own lineup of artists to play. “The Lover album is open fields, sunsets, + SUMMER,” she wrote at the time. “I want to perform it in a way that feels authentic. I want to go to some places I haven’t been and play festivals. Where we didn’t have festivals, we made some.”

The only problem was that Lover Fest was scheduled for July 2020, meaning it was indefinitely postponed due to the pandemic.

Sure, Swift didn’t announce any intentions to make Lover Fest a girls-only affair, with proceeds going to progressive organizations like Rodrigo’s. However, the world will never know what her plans were, as she didn’t even get to announce her lineup before the festival got canceled. For all Swifties know, Lover Fest could’ve been their Lilith Fair.

The only detail fans learned about Lover Fest before the cancellations was that Swift planned to perform on a heart-shaped stage at the center of the stadiums. (I had pit tickets right in front of the heart, which I’ll forever be salty about losing.) To this day, Swifties still speculate about what the planned setlist was, how the stage would’ve looked, and who was set to perform at the festival alongside Swift (bets were on Selena Gomez, Panic! at the Disco, and Hayley Kiyoko).

The silver lining is that Swift may not have done the Eras Tour if Lover Fest had gone ahead, as the idea only came to her because she had so many albums to perform by the time she was able to tour again (and thanks to my Lover Fest presale boost, I had no issue getting Eras tickets).

That said, creating a festival is an idea that Swift should revisit, especially if she wants to perform without going on another grueling tour. And given the amount of genres she’s explored and artists she’s collaborated with since Lover, just imagine the lineup she could put together today. My wallet is already quaking.