Harvey Goldsmith unveils plans for Earth Aid Live

Live Aid promoter Harvey Goldsmith has announced the launch of a global charity concert series to combat climate change.

Earth Aid Live is slated to take place in six countries in five continents over a single weekend in August 2025. Locations will include London, UK, Los Angeles, US and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, reports the Guardian.

The series has been created by UMA Entertainment Group, which is chaired by Goldsmith.

“We are standing on the brink of a historic moment with this revolutionary global event series, heralding a new era marked by unity, sustainability, and a profound positive impact on the planet,” says the legendary promoter.  “Building on what we have already achieved with Live Aid, our aspiration is to unite people from all walks of life in the shared mission of bettering our world.”

Evolving “from a traditional fundraising effort”, the Earth Aid Live shows will be designed to “provoke wider climate action in its audiences, spanning “individual action, community engagement, corporate participation and intergovernmental collaboration”.

No lineup details have yet been released, but organisers say the gigs will “strive” to achieve “net zero carbon”, with “transparent carbon reporting”. Similar “milestone stadium concerts” are also in the works for 2030 and 2035, with the idea of hosting concerts in the metaverse as well as in real life.

“We have been working with some incredible minds on this project over the past few years to develop comprehensive calls to action centred around making better choices for our future: as individuals, in business and as governments, the power and opportunity for change lies within all of us,” adds UMA Entertainment CEO Simon O’Kelly.

“We are passionate about the chance we have to leverage culture on a scale seen only a handful of times before”

“Above all else, we are passionate about the chance we have to leverage culture on a scale seen only a handful of times before, with an entertainment series that transcends borders and unites cultures and generations, creating real, lasting change, the world over.”

It was reported last month that benefit gigs to fight climate change were being planned for the UK and US in early 2025 – 40 years on from the iconic Live Aid concerts – featuring acts including Rita Ora and Robbie Williams.

The 1985 Live Aid concerts, organised by Goldsmith, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, saw acts including Queen, David Bowie, U2, the Who, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Black Sabbath and Bob Dylan perform to around 160,000 fans in London and Philadelphia on 13 July 1985.

The concerts were watched by a further two billion people on television worldwide and raised more than $127 million for victims of the Ethiopian famine.

A subsequent string of benefit shows, Live 8, were held in the G8 states and South Africa in July 2005, featuring artists such as U2 and Paul McCartney, Elton John, Jay-Z, Pink Floyd, Madonna, Kanye West, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Stevie Wonder.

Goldsmith also advised on the 2007 Live Earth global event series, which featured the likes of Metallica, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Roger Waters, Alicia Keys, Foo Fighters, Madonna, Kanye West, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Police.

Interested in the intersection of sustainability and live events? Don’t miss out on the 16th edition of the Green Events and Innovations conference. For more information, click here.

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