A letter full of gratitude that's actually a litany of complaints—that's what makes this open letter from Ugly Oats Kitchen owner Mary Chacon so jarring. She first thanks Olivia Rodrigo for putting on a "safe and historic" event, calling it "an honor" to be part of it, then pivots to say it was the worst day her business has ever experienced.
Daisy Chain Fields was Rodrigo's first-ever festival, inspired by the '90s Lilith Fair, held as a one-day event at Great Park in Irvine, California in late August, with a lineup featuring Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, Doechii, and Garbage. Before the festival kicked off, organizers announced they would donate $10 million to various nonprofits, including Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center For Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood. After the event, Melinda French Gates added a matching donation, bringing the total raised to $20 million.
In the Instagram open letter, Chacon said she reached out to Rodrigo's team "two days after" the event ended, but has yet to receive the sales payments owed to her, calling it "a breach of our contract." She said she'd hesitated over whether to go public, worried it might damage her company's reputation, but ultimately decided to speak out in hopes of getting a response.
The letter states that organizers told vendors they'd be fined if they sold out of food, so she baked thousands of cookies and temporarily shut down her own bakery to ensure she had enough supply. She was then asked to pay roughly $1,400 in fees and hand over 35% of sales to the festival—a cost she estimates ran into the thousands of dollars.
Management issues were also called out: she says she didn't receive setup information until just hours before departure, which made load-in difficult, and was asked to purchase a large amount of extra supplies on short notice before the event. Once on site, she said there "weren't many customers around," and heard that some attendees had no idea food vendors were even in that area. Chacon believes "DLS seemed to have booked way too many dessert vendors but not enough main course vendors, which put both vendors and attendees in a bind." She also mentioned that staff didn't know where to get food or water, and one of her team members suffered heatstroke and vomited but couldn't find anywhere to get a proper meal.
"This was the worst day my team and I have had since starting Ugly Oats," she wrote. "It's going to take months to recover from the losses this event caused." Even so, she said being invited was still an honor, and she hopes to shed light on "the real situation for women entrepreneurs on the ground," especially before the festival potentially returns in 2027.
NME has reached out to representatives for Daisy Chain Fields and Rodrigo regarding Chacon's allegations and has not received a response as of publication. On the day of the festival, Rodrigo's headlining set brought out Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette, and Sarah McLachlan for a joint performance of "Landslide," "Ironic," "Building A Mystery," and "Angel," earning a four-and-a-half star review from NME at the time. Following the event, Rodrigo has kicked off her "Unraveled" world tour, with its first stop in Connecticut.
