By Meghan Campbell

The 2015 Global Citizen Festival was held this past Saturday, Sept. 26, on the Great Lawn of Central Park. The event was part of the Global Poverty Project, which is fighting to end extreme poverty by the year 2030.

The festival kicked off to a slow and overall exhausting start. After the gates opened at 2 p.m., audience members had no choice but to stand crowded together in order to let the maximum amount of people in. With no entertainment or speakers until 4 p.m., the crowd quickly became restless.

After what seemed like an eternity, host Stephen Colbert appeared on stage in a large trench coat under which stood co-host Hugh Jackman. The two provided a humorous introduction that took some of the edge off the crowd before introducing the first act, Coldplay.

The group got the crowd going by playing some of its hits including “Yellow,” “Viva la Vida” and its most recent hit, “Sky Full of Stars.” In the middle of the set, lead singer Chris Martin introduced surprise guest Ariana Grande and the two performed “Just a Little Bit of Your Heart” together, which was well received by the audience.

The next headliner to perform was singer songwriter Ed Sheeran, who performed a variety of his hits including “A Team, “Photograph” and, together with Chris Martin, “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran’s energetic performance and talented use of his loop station was a hit with the crowd.

In between headliners various speakers talked about the different causes Global Citizen was fighting for, such as equal rights, an end to poverty and conservation of the environment. Presenters included Joe Biden, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill and Melinda Gates and prime ministers Matteo Rinzi of Italy and Erna Solberg of Norway.

The most anticipated headliner of the night was Beyonce, who had the audience going nuts over her mash-up of songs including “Crazy in Love,” “Survivor” and “Halo.” She also performed “Drunk in Love” with Ed Sheeran, which was very well received by the audience. Her non-stop set included a total of three outfit changes and 17 songs all of which the crowd loved.

At the end of her set, Beyonce introduced Michelle Obama to the stage, who was loudly greeted by the audience. The first lady introduced her new campaign 62 Million Girls, which is fighting to provide girls across the world with a quality education. She asked members of the audience to post pictures of themselves on Twitter or Instagram stating what they learned in school with the hashtag #62milliongirls.

Obama’s speech was followed by an inspiring speech by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was met with thundering applause. Yousafzai spoke of the importance of education for all children across the world and the profound impact it has on their lives. Her inspiring speech earned the loudest round of applause of the night.

The final act of the festival was Pearl Jam who performed hits such as “Given to Fly” and “Better Man.” The standout moment of their set was singing Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” alongside Beyonce during which they played a recording of one of Nelson Mandela’s speeches. They ended the night by playing “Rockin’ in the Free World” when all the Global Citizen guest stars danced on stage. Overall the night was a success and created awareness for many important causes.