Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields under fire as 2 vendors say they’re still owed money

Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural festival, Daisy Chain Fields, won praise for its all-woman lineup and charitable focus on reproductive rights and fighting gender-based violence.

But the festival is coming under fire from two vendors who allege they endured poor working conditions and haven’t received proper payment for their services. 

The one-day festival brought swarms of fans to Great Park in Irvine, Calif., to hear performances by Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill and Rodrigo herself.

All performers donated their time, with proceeds from the festival going to 10 organizations centering women’s rights, including Planned Parenthood, National Women’s Law Center, Black Mamas Matter and the National Institute for Reproductive Health.

The $10 million US initially raised by the festival was then matched by Melinda French Gates to bring the total to $20 million.  

But more than a month after the festival took place, two vendors are sharing that the festival experience was far from perfect for them.

Mary Chacon, owner of Ugly Oats Kitchen, posted “An Open Letter to Olivia Rodrigo,” on Instagram on Tuesday, alleging she still hasn’t “been paid out of our sales (in violation of our contract)” yet, which prompted her to share her experience vending at Daisy Chain Fields. 

Chacon stated that the subcontractor in charge of food vendors, DLS Events, only provided piecemeal information on setup and didn’t tell them about a free staff food area, which she said was also so far away from their booth that they couldn’t access it. 

Rodrigo performs at Daisy Chain Fields on Aug. 29. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

After she was told by DLS Events that the festival would fine them if they ran out of food, she said she baked thousands of cookies — only to see very few sales, which she attributes to organizers’ poor planning. 

“Ugly Oats is a micro bakery run out of my apartment. I, as a mom investing my own money, have no extra funds,” Chacon wrote, adding that she will be “forever grateful for the opportunity to be present at a historic feminist event,” and that she hopes issues will be resolved for vendors next year. 

CBC News has reached out for comment from Rodrigo’s team, as well as C3 Presents, the company that produced the event, and the two companies highlighted by Chacon as managing vendors for the festival: DLS Events and Jetty Event Productions. 

‘Vendors are talent, too’

Shortly after Ugly Oats Kitchen posted on Tuesday, custom fortune cookie company Por Suerte shared in their own post that they had a similar experience at Daisy Chain Fields, thanking Ugly Oats Kitchen “for starting the conversation.”

The business, which is operated solely by owner Veronica Licha Lopez, posted on Instagram that there was poor communication from organizers in the weeks leading up to the event, and that her business experienced a “significant financial loss” by participating.

“We’re still waiting to be paid. After everything we spent to participate, we have still not received what we are owed for the event,” the post stated. 

“Supporting women shouldn’t stop at putting women on a stage … Because vendors are talent, too.”

Rodrigo hasn’t publicly commented on the criticisms. 

Although charity music festivals aren’t a new concept — from 1985’s Live Aid concert to a virtual festival curated by Lady Gaga to raise money for COVID-19 relief in 2020 — Daisy Chain Fields is the first one to focus on women’s and reproductive rights. 

The festival sparked some concerns from local authorities in its immediate wake due to a heat wave bringing high temperatures during the event, and a traffic crush from the tens of thousands of fans. But city leaders told local media they are already on board to host the event next year. 

Signs are displayed behind festivalgoers on the Marigold Stage at the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival. (Chris Pizzello/The Associated Press)

Rodrigo has been outspoken in the fight for reproductive rights, lambasting abortion bans ahead of the Daisy Chain Fields festival as not “pro-life” but “pro-control.” During her GUTS tour in 2024/2025, she partnered with local women-focused charities and donated a portion of her ticket sales. She is currently on the North American leg of her Unraveled tour. 

In the wake of the festival, Rodrigo shared on social media that it was “the greatest joy of my career,” saying the event felt like “a collective hope that things can get better and a reminder of how much we really care about people at the end of the day.”