NEW YORK - New York's Governors Ball kicked off on Friday under clearer skies after days of wildfire-induced noxious smog blanketed the city and threatened to derail the annual music festival.
It was welcome news for thousands of revellers planning to attend the festival in New York's Queens borough to see artists including headliners Lizzo, Odesza and Kendrick Lamar.
By Friday evening as Diplo took the stage, the air quality level had dropped to a refreshing 38 on the 500-point scale -- earlier in the week it had jumped past a dangerous 400 -- and festival-goers along with artists were able to breathe easy once more.
More than 111 million people in the United States had been under air quality alerts as of Thursday due to the fires. The wildfire smoke from Canada was also detected several thousand miles away in Norway.
The mayors of New York, Montreal, Toronto, Washington and Philadelphia issued a joint statement on Friday saying "this alarming episode serves as a stark reminder of the harmful impacts that the climate crisis is having on cities around the world.
The three-day Governors Ball music festival is set to continue through Sunday, and along with the headliners will feature Lil Nas X, Haim, Lil Uzi Vert, Rina Sawayama, Omar Apollo and Ice Spice.