The Weeknd announces stadium tour dates, launches global hunger fund with UN agency

TORONTO – The Weeknd will kick off a world tour in his hometown of Toronto this summer with a portion of ticket sales going towards a United Nations humanitarian fund he’s created to fight the global hunger crisis.

The “Blinding Lights” pop superstar marked July 8 at Rogers Centre as the launch date for the “first leg” of his massive After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour, which rolls into Vancouver’s BC Place on Aug. 25.

Other announced dates cover U.S. cities with further legs of the tour to be announced in the coming weeks, including stops in Mexico, Europe, Asia and additional regions.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, will also donate US$1 from each ticket sold to the XO Humanitarian Fund, which he formed in partnership with the United Nation’s World Food Programme.

The UN agency says Tesfaye made an initial donation of $500,000 to launch the fund and it estimates the tour could draw another $3.5 million by the end of next year.

Money raised will support communities facing hunger in countries including Afghanistan, Yemen and Ethiopia, the country where both of Tesfaye’s parents lived before they immigrated to Canada.

Hunger crises have intensified around the world as conflict and climate change, compounded by COVID-19 and rising expenses, are “driving millions of people closer to starvation — threatening to increase migration and instability globally,” the humanitarian group said Thursday in a release.

The UN said more than 44 million people are facing famine, while another 276 million face severe hunger.

The food program’s U.S. board of directors said it will contribute an additional $1 million to support efforts in Ethiopia and help launch the XO fund, which is named after the Weeknd’s record label.

Tesfaye was selected as one of the food program’s global ambassadors last year and organizers noted he has donated $1.8 million in total.

The Weeknd’s tour announcement comes several months after he scrapped his After Hours tour, telling fans that “due to constraints of arenas” he wanted to move his performances to stadiums. The tour had been postponed twice due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Before the cancellations, he was booked to play dates in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.