In 2017, the festival was held on the eve of the G20 Hamburg summit on July 6. The concert in the Barclaycard Arena was headlined by Coldplay, Shakira, and Herbert Grönemeyer. Other performers and presenters included Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding, Demi Lovato, Khatia Buniatishvili, Andreas Bourani, Sido, Lena, Elyas M'Barek, , , Barbara Schöneberger, and Linda Zervakis. Appearances of politicians during the concert included the first mayor of Hamburg Olaf Scholz, Justin Trudeau, Erna Solberg, Mauricio Macri, and Sigmar Gabriel. The event was broadcast live on the Global Citizen Festival's YouTube channel. During the event, Argentinian president Mauricio Macri announced that the Global Citizen Festival would be invited to the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit.