Harvard Sought Olivia Dean, Zara Larsson Before Landing Ravyn Lenae For Yardfest

Before booking Ravyn Lenae to headline Yardfest 2026, Harvard first pursued the Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean and Swedish pop star Zara Larsson, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Dean declined after the Harvard College Events Board — a student-run group responsible for organizing Yardfest — could not meet her asking price, two people said. Organizers then turned to Larsson, but she was unavailable on April 19 — the date Harvard had already selected for its annual spring concert.

With its two top options unavailable, the board moved on to Lenae. According to one of the two people, Lenae accepted the offer soon after being contracted, and her contract was finalized within a month.

Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason Meier said Harvard had not settled on an artist before securing Lenae.

“For Yardfest 2026, we had one offer that was accepted, and that was for Ravyn Lenae,” Meier said. “There was no renegotiation. No one was solidified.”

“Every year for Crimson Jam and Yardfest, we look at a variety of artists,” he added. “There’s lots of reasons why we are able to book or can’t book certain performers.”

Meier declined to comment on how the CEB landed on Lenae.

According to a College administrator, the search for this year’s headliner began early in the fall semester. In late September and early October, a production agency sent the CEB a list of potential headliners.

Student members of the board ranked the artists they were most interested in pursuing, the administrator said. An entertainment agency then contacted several of the board’s top choices on Harvard’s behalf, working with the artists’ team to determine their interest and availability.

Dean emerged as the board’s preferred choice, according to the administrator, but declined when she was contacted because Harvard’s budget was below her price range.

Meier declined to specify how much the College had budgeted for the Yardfest headliner. The CEB’s overall annual budget, however, was $450,000.

According to the administrator, the headliner budget this year was roughly comparable to last year’s, when Yardfest secured Grammy-nominated Natasha Beddingfield.

The CEB’s budget comes from the Student Activities Fee, which is being raised from an optional $200 annual fee to a mandatory $450 one next fall. Dean of Students Thomas Dunne said in an interview with The Crimson last Thursday that the change will likely increase the budget for SAF recipients, including the CEB.

Dean’s rising popularity may also have complicated the process. Last fall — while Harvard was working to finalize a Yardfest headliner — she saw a surge in attention after announcing her Grammy nomination in November and performing later that month on Saturday Night Live.

Larsson — a Swedish pop singer known for hits including “Lush Life” — is instead scheduled to appear the following weekend, April 25, at spring concerts hosted by Yale University and Tufts University, performing an afternoon show in Medford before concluding the night in New Haven.

Talent representatives for Dean, Larsson, and Lenae did not respond to requests for comment.

Meier said that he was “thrilled” to have Lenae perform.

“It’s going to be a good show,” he said. “Our student talent is absurd, so it should be a fun afternoon.”

“And damn it, the weather is going to be good,” he added.

—Staff writer Wyeth Renwick can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @wzrenwick.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at csimon.13. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.