Beyonce, Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay to headline 2015 Global Citizen Festival

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) -- Pearl Jam, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay are to headline the 2015 Global Citizen Festival in New York City this fall, organizers announced Thursday.

The free, ticketed event is to take place on the Great Lawn in Central Park Sept. 26. It is timed to coincide with the start of the United Nations' new Global Goals initiative, which a press release said was "designed to fight inequality, protect our planet and end extreme poverty by 2030."

To obtain tickets, one must register at globalcitizenfestival.com and sign up to volunteer to help the organization in some way. After he/she completes the task, the individual can enter to win free tickets.

MSNBC will serve as a media partner of the Global Citizen Festival for the second year in a row. A live simulcast of the full concert will be available on MSNBC and MSNBC.com, while YouTube will livestream the event. The festival will be produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Ken Ehrlich and Richard Curtis will produce a one-hour special of festival highlights to air on NBC in the United States Sept. 27 and on BBC One in the United Kingdom Sept. 28. BBC Worldwide will serve as the global distributor for the TV special.

Audio will be streamed globally via iHeartRadio.com and TIDAL.

"The 2015 Global Citizen Festival will serve as a critical moment to shed light on the world's agenda for the next 15 years," Hugh Evans, chief executive officer of The Global Poverty Project, said in a statement. "We are now at a moment where we can eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, but this cannot be achieved by the words of politicians alone. The Global Citizen Festival serves to channel the unwavering call for action from global citizens who want to see equality, change and justice reach those who need it most."

Said Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam: "We hope Pearl Jam fans will sign up to become global citizens -- not just to earn tickets to the show -- but to be part of a movement that encourages leaders of nations with the greatest wealth to apply aid, trade and governance policies in support of nations and communities in the greatest need. People living on less than $1.50-a-day deserve the opportunity to lift themselves up out of extreme poverty."

"I am honored to be a part of the Global Citizen Festival," added Beyonce. "It has always stood for improving the lives of people everywhere, but this year is especially rewarding as we all join focuses and utilize our talents for one goal: to end extreme poverty globally."