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Jay Z, Hugh Jackman and Katie Holmes Hope to End Poverty with Global Citizen Festival


PEOPLE
By Gillian Telling
9/10/14


Mix Hugh Jackman, Jay Z, Katie Holmes and Carrie Underwood together, and what do you get?

A dream line-up for a great cause!

The stars, along with No Doubt, The Roots, Olivia Wilde and Allison Williams, will be on hand for the third annual Global Citizen Festival, PEOPLE can announce exclusively.

The event is to raise awareness and encourage people to be "Global Citizens" working to end extreme poverty by 2030.

The concert, which is free for ticketed guests, will take place on the Great Lawn in Central Park on Saturday, Sept. 27. And for the first time ever, it will also be broadcast on TV: NBC will air a one-hour primetime special at 9 p.m. ET, and MSNBC will air and stream the full concert on cable and on msnbc.com, respectively.

"I believe through actions, whether it be by raising awareness, getting involved or educating ourselves, the goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 is possible," says Jay Z, who is set to perform.

Because the Global Citizen movement works to eradicate extreme poverty worldwide, in order to get a ticket, festival attendees must participate in online "actions" at globalcitizenfestival.com to become eligible for a lottery draw. Those "actions" include signing a petition calling on world leaders to fund life-saving vaccines to children in poor countries.

"I am thrilled to be a part of this year's Global Citizen Festival to further the movement to end extreme poverty," Jackman says. "This is a cause that has been close to my heart for many years, and I look forward to joining 60,000 Global Citizens in Central Park as we change the world for the better.”

Since the festival's inception three years ago, the campaign has raised more than $1.3 billion in new funding and resulted in 35 commitments from world leaders that directly benefit the world's poor.