[3] Tickets to the festival are distributed through a lottery system with festival-goers performing actions on Global Citizen's website, globalcitizen.org (which Gall co-founded), for a chance to attend the event.

[7] The festival has taken its model to Australia, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Canada and is one of the largest, most visible events drawing attention to sustainability and anti-poverty efforts for young people around the world.

Special appearances and speakers included Stephen Colbert, Hugh Jackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama.

[16] The 2016 festival was held on September 24 in New York City at Central Park's Great Lawn and included performances by headliners Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Demi Lovato, Major Lazer, and Metallica, as well as special guests Usher, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Ellie Goulding, Yandel, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens.

[17] Special appearances and speakers included Chelsea Handler, Deborra-Lee and Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Seth Meyers.

[24] Some of the notable hosts and presenters were Hugh Jackman, Demi Lovato, Jane Goodall, Whoopi Goldberg, Priyanka Chopra, Lupita Nyong'o, Connie Britton, and Camren Bicondova.

[26] The main 2018 festival was held at Central Park's Great Lawn in New York City on September 29 and was headlined by Janet Jackson, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Cardi B and Janelle Monáe, with John Legend being a special guest performer.

[28] It was announced that a festival would take place on December 2 in the FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa, that would celebrate the life's work and lasting legacy of Nelson Mandela for his 100th birthday.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z headlined the festival, followed by performances from Cassper Nyovest, Chris Martin, Kacey Musgraves, Pharrell Williams, Eddie Vedder, Ed Sheeran, D'banj, Femi Kuti, Sho Madjozi, Tiwa Savage, Usher and Wizkid.

Presenters included Naomi Campbell, Bob Geldof, Gayle King, Tyler Perry, Trevor Noah, Forest Whitaker and Bonang Matheba.

[29] The Johannesburg show was marred by violence as many concertgoers were robbed and assaulted outside the venue by armed attackers, allegedly due to a total lack of police and security presence.

[30] The main 2019 festival took place on September 28 at Central Park's Great Lawn in New York City, with Queen + Adam Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, OneRepublic, H.E.R., and Carole King headlining, and French Montana, Ben Platt, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, David Gray, and NCT 127 as special guest performers.

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness returned to host the festival alongside Matt Bomer, Connie Britton, Rachel Brosnahan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nina Dobrev, Elvis Duran, Becky G, Taraji P. Henson, Dakota Johnson, Becky Lynch, Aasif Mandvi, Rami Malek, Greta Thunberg, Bridget Moynahan, Bill Nye, Kal Penn, Natalie Portman, Joy Reid, Erin Richards, Seth Rollins, Savannah Sellers, and Forest Whitaker.

[39][40] A parallel edition was held at Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana the same day featuring performances from Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Tems, Uncle Waffles, Gyakie, Sarkodie, and Stonebwoy.

The event was hosted by Danai Gurira, alongside presenters Berla Mundi, Joselyn Dumas, Michaela Coel, Nomzamo Mbatha and Sabrina Dhowre Elba.

[41][42] The main 2023 festival took place on September 23 at Central Park's Great Lawn in New York City, with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jung Kook, Anitta, Conan Gray, D-Nice, Sofia Carson and Stray Kids headlining.