About Ladyfest

This is some of the stuff from the website, but I'm putting it here too. I'll put the website here when it is up and running! Monday we hope...

LADYFEST BRISTOL 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!

History

The first Ladyfest was held in Olympia, Washington State in 2000, and since then has grown internationally, happening in Ottawa, Mexico, Romania and Singapore, as well as dozens in Britain, including London, Leeds, Newcastle, Brighton and all over.

Born from the Riot Grrl punk movement of the nineties, Ladyfest aimed to showcase and celebrate women’s music and art on their own merit and in their own right. By this we mean that for the first time, women’s creativity had its own space, as opposed to a sideline or novelty in the traditionally more male dominated punk and indie scene.

This is the second Ladyfest to be held in Bristol. The first was a two week event in the summer of 2003, when Bristol and Bath hosted a number of musical and artistic events between the two cities.

Ladyfest has changed and evolved into a diverse festival that represents a wide selection of women’s work and needs. It has maintained its spirit as a cultural moment to celebrate women, whilst growing in its outlook and in its aims. Each festival is run independently under the Ladyfest banner, and this allows each one to develop their own idea of what they want the festival to mean to their audience, their town and themselves.


Ladyfest Bristol 2007

Ladyfest Bristol aims to be a diverse event, in keeping with the growing variety of recent festivals. Musically, we are presenting indie, electro, hip hop and folk nights. This means that whatever your taste, there will be a night to go dancing that will suit you!

Like Ladyfests before us we will be exhibiting a range of local and national artists, and running workshops on drawing, writing, knitting, self defence, and music.

Film and theatre will play a strong role in the event, with acting workshops, and the Cube cabaret performing their work, whilst local women filmmakers will have the opportunity to show off their work.

It is important to us that Ladyfest explores its own political and ethical motivations whilst making sure that we don’t exclude anyone or make people feel uneasy about attending. We want to use the festival to raise discussion and debate about gender roles and women in society, through discussion, art and music!