Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Chris Martin, Usher to rock Global Citizen Festival

Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Chris Martin, Usher to rock Global Citizen Festival[/caption] Some of the world’s biggest artists and advocates are heading to Johannesburg this week to celebrate the life, legacy, and unfinished business of Nelson Mandela. The Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 hosted and presented by The Motsepe Foundation is going to be an historic event and the largest campaign for the United Nations’ Global Goals that the world has ever seen. The crown jewel of the week will be the Festival itself, where we will dance to Beyoncé & JAY-Z, Cassper Nyovest, D’banj, Ed Sheeran, Eddie Vedder, Femi Kuti, Kacey Musgraves, Pharrell Williams & Chris Martin, Sho Madjozi, Tiwa Savage, Usher, and Wizkid. The Festival will also feature the world’s most influential leaders, thinkers, and doers, making onstage commitments towards ending extreme poverty. But the Festival is just one of the many exciting events in an incredible week of other advocacy driven activities. Global Citizen is proud to be hosting, partnering, and supporting a number of events throughout the week which we will be cross-promoting, encouraging participation and providing editorial coverage, including: Mon Nov 26 – Thu Nov 28 – Africa Rising International Film Festival.  The focus of the festival is two fold one to showcase and promote development and transformation in the Film industry in South Africa and secondly to introduce film & TV industry to a new audience of young people. Tickets on sale at https://www.howler.co.za/events/4051. Thur Nov 29 – Global Citizen Leadership Summit: The Next 100 (in partnership with Forbes and OkayAfrica). Will bring together the most influential leaders, thinkers and doers from across sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora to discuss how they can come together and use their platforms to help build this better future. The summit will consist of thought-provoking panels, workshops, and opportunities for leaders to share their expertise with one another and discover innovative solutions to our world’s critical problems. Sign up here: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/join/next100/. Thu Nov 29 – Sat Dec 1st: JCI African Youth Development Summit.  The Summit will honor Mandela’s legacy by empowering young African leaders with the skills and understanding needed to take action to create positive change that will transcend boundaries and reach the most vulnerable of people. The program will focus on the role young people must play in the development of the continent by discussing in depth how to advance Agenda 2063 through the I Am Africa campaign and address the key challenge of Ending Violence in Schools. This part of the programming will be in collaboration with and support the UNICEF #EndViolence Campaign and youth in attendance will create and then launch a Youth Manifesto to End Violence in Schools. Invitation Only. Fri Nov 30 – Forever Young Ball & Gala Dinner. As part of Nelson Mandela’s centennial, House of Mandela Family Foundation, Enhle Cares Foundation and Africa Rising Foundation in association with Global Citizen and The Nozala Trust are proud to announce the first annual Forever Young Ball & Gala Dinner. Private function. By Invitation only. Fri Nov 30 – TEDx Johannesburg. In the year that he would have turned a hundred, on Friday 30 November 2018, at Vodacom World in Midrand, TEDxJohannesburg celebrates Nelson Mandela, and many others like him. TEDxJohannesburg 2018: Decoding Greatness, features the tales, deeds, and works of gurus, heroes, and legends – living and past, from all walks of life, across disciplines. Expect perspectives from giants in business, innovation, culture, scholarship, and sports – including visionary CEOs, legendary entrepreneurs, inspirational artists, incisive analysts, and champion performers. Tickets Here: http://tedxjohannesburg.co.za/decodinggreatness.html Fri Nov 30 – Lalela Art Exhibition. Lalela provides educational arts for at-risk youth to spark creative thinking and awaken the entrepreneurial spirit. Lalela and Global Citizen have partnered on a Lalela Art Competition which encourages Lalela youth to create art focused on Global Citizens core issues. This competition will culminate in an exhibition taking place on the 30th November. Location: SMAC Gallery, First Floor, The Trumpet, 19 Keyes Avenue, Rosebank, 2196, 6PM. Fri Nov 30-Sat Dec 1: #ColourmyHIV is the Official National Youth event for South Africa for World Aids Day. It will celebrate the lives of all people infected and affected by HIV. The event will target youth nationally between the ages of 15 and 24 and will tell their stories of adversities but mostly triumph. Co-hosted by the Sibu Sibaca Foundation and the Government of South Africa. By Invitation only. Sat Dec 1 – High Level SDG2 Panel Discussions with SDG2 Advocacy Hub, these panel discussions will occur in the afternoon on the eve of Mandela 100 and prior to the High Level SDG2 Dinner that evening. The discussion will bring together the African Development Bank, NEPAD, the Global Nutrition Report (GNR), FAO, IFAD, WFP, SUN Civil Society, celebrity chefs, and youth advocates to engage in a discussion on ending all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.  By Invitation only. Sat Dec 1 – Investing in Women and Girls: A World AIDS Day Celebration. This invite only event is co-hosted by the Government of South Africa and the Global Fund, in partnership with Global Citizen, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johnson & Johnson. The event will focus on how despite great progress made against HIV globally, adolescent girls and young women continue to be disproportionately affected by the epidemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Confirmed speakers include: David Mabuza, Deputy President of South Africa and Chairperson of SANAC,  Hon. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health of South Africa, H.E. Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, H.E Ambassador Deborah Birx, Dr. Paul Stoffels, Vice Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, Mark Suzman, President, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sibulele Sibaca, Youth Activist, Pearl Thusi, South African actress, model, television host, and radio personality, Chris Stadler, Co-Chair, Global Board of Directors, Global Citizen, and Kweku Mandela, Activist.  By invitation only. Sat Dec 1 – Grassroots Soccer & Surfers Not Street Children Celebrity Soccer Match.  Coordinated by House of Mandela, this charity celebrity soccer match will support  both organizations and include teams made up of ambassadors, celebrities and servicemen and women (Fire, Police, EMS). By Invitation only. Sat Dec 1 – Together for Global Goals – A Playful Celebration. Hosted by the Field Band Foundation and Eir Soccer, the Alexandra Field Band have joined forces with Alex Football Club and Eir Soccer to celebrate the children of Alexandra,  to learn about the Global Goals, and throughout the season, they will join the talks, play at game events and invite the leagues players to join music sessions and to take actions on the goals. Location: Alexandria Township, 1PM-3PM. Must RSVP. Sat Dec 1 – Celebrating Ubuntu: The Future of African Artistry. Hosted by AfroLit and Nabu.org, this event features a panel oriented around the future of African artistry. This event will create a space for members of the African diaspora to be a part of the GC week experience and to engage millennials in a conversation about the responsibility Africans have to give back.Location: Nelson Mandela Foundation, 5PM-7PM. Must RSVP. Sat Dec 1- Africa Rising and House of Mandela World AIDS Day Dinner. Hosted by Ndaba and Kweku Mandela, this intimate gathering at Nelson Mandela’s home will bring together some of the world’s greatest thought leaders, influencers and talents, for an authentic, once-in-a-lifetime experience featuring some of Madiba’s favorite meals, including tripe, chicken legs, amasi, umphokoqo and potato latkes, prepared by his former head chef, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, better known as Mama Xoli, and served in the main dining room. Afterwards, guests will gather in the gardens to participate in a special Cacao ceremony with African drums and surprise performers, all to be held at the private Estate of Nelson Mandela.  By Invitation only. Sun Dec 2 – Global Citizen Festival Mandela 100, FNB Stadium. Including some of the world’s biggest artists together with some of the top artists from across the African continent, the event promises to be one of Global Citizen’s biggest events to date. It will have a broadcast (both terrestrial and digital) that is global nature and will serve as a stage for commitments to be made by world leaders. Sign up at www.GlobalCitizen.org.za before November 26th for a chance to earn tickets. Ongoing – Apartheid Museum. Global Citizen encourages all visitors to South Africa to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg to understand the history of the country and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom. Ongoing – Constitution Hill. Global Citizen encourages all visitors to South Africa to visit Constitution Hill, which is a living museum, former prison and military fort that bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past and, today, is home to the country’s Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens. There is perhaps no other site of incarceration in South Africa that imprisoned the sheer number of world-renowned men and women as those held within the walls of Constitution Hill’s Old Fort, Women’s Jail and Number Four. Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi,  Joe Slovo, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Fatima Meer all served time here.