FEATURE: A Call to the World: Inside the Revolutionary and Incredible WIMIN Festival

FEATURE:

 

 

A Call to the World

IMAGE CREDIT: WIMIN Festival

 

Inside the Revolutionary and Incredible WIMIN Festival

_________

AFTER hearing…

IN THIS PHOTO: Katy J. Pearson

Anna Grace Du Noyer and Katy J. Pearson talk to Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6 Music (1:36.25 on) about the extraordinary WIMIN Festival, I was compelled to write about it. Thanks to this website, here are the details about the incredible festival. One that everyone needs to be aware of – at a time when so many festivals are overlooking women and not booking female headliners:

“WIMIN Festival is a groundbreaking event in Bootle, Liverpool and managed by Scrapyard Studios CIC. The festival aims to foster talent and creativity of women in the music industry. The festival is set to make history with an all-female led lineup of performers and a female-crewed production team.

About Scrapyard Studios CIC

Scrapyard Studios CIC is a not-for-profit organisation based in Bootle that offers year-round inclusive workshops and activities for artists and creatives of all genders in the local community. With a commitment to addressing the challenges women face in the events industry, Scrapyard Studios strives to create a supportive and safe environment for female professionals in Liverpool's music scene.

“The UK music scene is set to experience a seismic shift this summer. In response to the industry's gender disparities, WIMIN Festival unveils the first wave of a pioneering female lineup. Headlined by unforgettable pop performer Katy J. Pearson, who is revered for her songs that slide effortlessly between lovelorn country, glittering pop, and lo-fi folk". The festival - described as a movement - with an all-female production crew and - is managed by Scrapyard Studios CIC, a Bootle-based non-profit, working with a skilled team of partners across Merseyside and beyond to deliver WIMIN Festival to music-lovers of all genders, on Saturday 29th July when the extensive ground of the Lock and Quay, Bootle will be transformed into a 3-stage festival site.

Now on sale for with discounts for teens and bundles, tickets are expected to be snapped up fast, following this first-wave announcement so music fans are encouraged to act quickly to secure a ticket before prices rise following the next wave announcement.

Leading the parade of talent from the main stage, festival goers will get to experience Katy’s singles Talk Over Town and Alligator, taken from her album Sound of the Morning described as “captivating” by The Guardian and “a sweet elixir” by NME. No stranger to the festival scene, Katy played the main-stage at Green Man 2022 as well as appearing at Latitude, Deer Shed and Blue Dot. The star’s presence at this grass-roots festival highlights the magnitude of feeling around gender inequality in music.

Adding to the event’s potent blend of talent is Manchester's indie-pop prodigy, rising star Abbie Ozard, bringing a uniquely compelling sound to the stage, off the back of her recent UK tour. Having gained recognition through her singles "Growing Pains", "Heartbreak Radio" and "On A Low", Abbie Ozard is known for her emotional depth and lyrical finesse. Her emotionally-driven tracks have resonated with fans and critics alike, earning her extensive radio play on stations such as BBC 6 Music.
Fans will also be treated to a fusion of sonic grunge and DIY punk from London-based band A VOID. Known for their raw energy and boundary breaking live performances, a testament to the band's commitment to challenging the status quo. Embracing non-conformity and progression, this band epitomises the spirit of this maverick music festival and movement, WIMIN Festival.

WIMIN Festival is much more than a celebration of music; it's a determined stride towards an industry that truly values and promotes its female artists such as Brighton's intriguing dream-pop outfit hanya - another stellar addition to the WIMIN Festival line-up. The band bring a tonne of energy to their live performances - with a distinct sound drawing comparisons to acts like Beach House and Warpaint. The art-rock trio will impress revellers with their innovative blend of genres that has been described as ‘all consuming and addictive’.

Organised entirely by female talent - from management, marketing, production teams, and artists - the festival represents more than a gathering of talent. WIMIN Festival is a statement of intent and action, making a stand against inequality while nurturing new talent and championing skill and creativity.

The festival promises a lot of bang for your buck. Beyond the impressive line up of musical performances, across 3 stages, ticket-holders will benefit from industry-expert-led panels, wellbeing and practical workshops, delicious drinks and food and a mini-market to buy from female-founded local businesses in The Garden.

IN THIS PHOTO: WIMIN Festival’s Director Holly Tulloch

"We have an incredible line-up of trailblazing female artists leading the charge for the first WIMIN Festival - with loads more to come. We are so excited to be working together to forge a more equitable music scene for women,” said Holly Tulloch, Director of Scrapyard Studios CIC.
The festival is a direct response to the needs expressed by the women who work and create in the music scene as revealed in the results of Scrapyard Studios 2022 Women in Music survey. Shockingly - or perhaps not so - 64% of women who responded said they feel unsafe in Liverpool's music venues and 88% sought better career opportunities, marking WIMIN Festival much-needed beacon of progress - as well as an incredible, family-friendly day out this Summer.

With the impressive first-wave also including Hushtones, Liverpool's sparkling indie-pop 5 piece, Mica Sefia who melds neo-soul and rock influences, SOFT LAD, a multi-instrumentalist turned pop songstress, Lazygirl, an emerging pop artist with infectious tunes, Seagoth with their ethereal indie rock soundscapes, Americana/Folk-Rock band Motel Sundown, introspective and melodic performer nil00, dynamic pop artist Micayl, and Liverpool's own dream-pop singer/songwriter, Niki Kand - WIMIN Festival is set to be the event of the Summer is one not to be missed.

With anticipation building and further artist announcements in the pipeline, the tickets are on sale now, including discounts for teens and bundles, but are set to increase soon, so secure your spot now”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Anna Grace Du Noye

You can book your ticket here. Anna Grace Du Noyer at Fierce PR is a great contact. If you want to follow them on social media:

Instagram: @wiminfestival @scrapyardstudioscic @lockandquaybootle @fierce_PR

Twitter: @WiminFestival/@ScrapyardCIC/@_LockandQuay/@Fierce_PR.

There are more details here. I shall come to writing about fellow all-festival festivals, why the WIMIN Festival is so important, and why other festivals need to take note:

“ARTIST SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES :

A VOID

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/avoidinyou/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/avoidinyou?lang=fr

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/avoidinyou

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ha9mtXhb0Ia40lnrU2cOI

Bandcamp

https://avoidinyou.bandcamp.com/album/dissociation

Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com/avoidinyou

YouTube

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwCzGg0kXD8delfwMQqgtQ

Apple Music

https://music.apple.com/fr/album/awkward-and-devastated/1439338745

Abbie Ozard

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/abbieozard/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/abbieOzard

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/abbieozardmusic

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/artist/03Xxe7sWXZW0NlayYQQHIn?si=ZDRni2wgQCK5tnWGTobv0w&nd=1

Bandcamp

https://abbieozard.bandcamp.com/album/water-based-lullabies

Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com/abbie-ozard

YouTube

 https://www.facebook.com/abbieozardmusic

Apple Music

 https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/abbie-ozard/1332966674

From Boudica focusing on amazing women on and off of the stage, to the L.G.B.T.Q.+-supporting festival for women Femme Fest, Loud Women Fest that stages these incredible womxn that might overwise be overlooked by some festivals, there are these wonderful and much-needed showcases of female talent. I will come back to WIMIN Festival in a minute. Back in 2019, when inequality (like now) is still rife at festivals, The Guardian asked why there has been a rise in all-female festivals:

“In 2015, music blog Crack in the Road tweeted a doctored image of the poster for the Reading and Leeds festival, erasing all acts that didn’t include a female performer. Only 10 groups remained. It started a conversation about gender inequality at music festivals – an issue that, despite the outcry, persists in 2019. This weekend’s edition of Reading and Leeds features only one female performer, Billie Eilish, among the festival’s 11 top-billed acts. Scotland’s TRNSMT and metal festival Download each had only one act featuring women across their nine lead acts, while there are no female headliners at indie festivals Green Man and End of the Road.

At this year’s Glastonbury, despite the presence of Janet Jackson, Kylie, Lauryn Hill and Miley Cyrus lower down the bill, the Pyramid stage headliners were all male. “The pool isn’t big enough,” said organiser Emily Eavis. “It’s time to nurture female talent. Everyone wants it, everyone’s hungry for women, but they’re just not there.”

 This year, a number of festival organisers are attempting to redress the issue by having only women on stage. Those with all-female lineups include Native festival in Kent, Loud Women Fest in north London, and Boudica festival in Coventry. KT Tunstall is involved with a festival called HearHer, which will feature a programme comprising of female solo artists or women-fronted bands, and women manning the behind-the-scenes production.On the west coast of the US, there’s California Women’s Music and Women Sound Off; meanwhile, Brandi Carlile, the Americana star who won three Grammys this year, will bring back her Girls Just Wanna Weekend to Mexico in January 2020.

Angela Martin – co-founder of Cro Cro Land, a female-organised festival in south London where the lineup and crew have a 50/50 gender balance – puts the boom in such festivals down to “unrest among women in music”. This, she says, leads to an increase in female promoters creating their own events.

She cites the PRS Foundation’s Keychange initiative as a catalyst in raising awareness about gender inequality at festivals. The campaign encourages festivals to have a 50/50 gender split among performers by 2022. More than 150 events worldwide have pledged to hit this target, including the Proms, Bluedot and Standon Calling.

The mastermind behind Keychange, Vanessa Reed, said the rise in all-female lineups this year was a necessary phase to help redress the balance. “People are feeling frustrated by festival lineups being male-dominated. Until Keychange there was no big debate about this or positive action. Some places, as an act of defiance, are saying: we are going to book loads of female talent in our city.”

Others put the rise down to politics, including the #MeToo movement that took off in the wake of sexual assault and rape allegations made against the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Reed mentions Statement festival in Sweden, which had an all-female lineup and an all-female audience, too. (It was later successfully sued for discrimination.) “That was set up for a different reason, specifically in response to incidents of sexual harassment – they wanted to make a statement.”

Victoria Boyington founded California Women’s Music festival in 2014 because promoters were not booking enough women. In the last year, she says there has been an “insurgence of feminism and the feminist movement”. She believes the trend may have peaked, and that it is a sign of change when bigger corporations jump on the bandwagon. She points to US radio conglomerate iHeartRadio and its all-female Women Who Rock concert for International Women’s Day, which featured artists including St Vincent and Karen O. “The future won’t necessarily be all-female lineups, but more inclusive festival lineups for major festivals.”

However, Boyington says some bookers lack integrity, booking women simply as a marketing ploy. “I am not sure they have the same focus as our organisation, which is more grassroots and founded by women for women.”

Reed says the next step is to establish gender equality more deeply through the festival industry. “There are still so many male promoters and bookers and established networks that have traditionally booked more men than women. All those things mean it’s harder to instigate change. But I have been inspired by the fact that lots of younger men in the music industry are as keen as women are for programmes to be more balanced. So I hope to some degree it’s about generational change”.

Change is certainly happening – Barcelona’s Primavera festival, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe, offered a 50/50 gender split in its 2019 lineup. “With loads of great music made by women, the paradigm of what we understood as ‘headliners’ until now is changing,” organiser Marta Pallarès wrote in Loud and Quiet magazine. “Music shouldn’t be the ‘pale, male and stale’ playground any more”.

It is clear sexism is rife in music. Katy J. Pearson said that to Chris Hawkins during the BBC Radio 6 Music interview yesterday (27th June). From techs and sound guys assuming that a women sound-checking or on stage is only singing and other people are playing instruments, to a general attitude held by festivals that women cannot headline, there is this contrast between the obvious wealth of talent out there and this discrimination and barrier. Rather than the brilliant WIMIN Festival excluding men or pushing them away, it is a celebration and safe space for women. It is a place where women can feel supported and seen. Where new skills can be learned; where women can network and feel included and heard. You can meet the team behind the festival. I would encourage people to share news and details online. I will finish soon with information of how and why you should support WIMIN Festival. Things are not changing fast. I have just published a feature reacting to Glastonbury having no female headliners this year. Many major festivals are ignoring the headline readiness of sensational women. In the feature, I interviewed drummer Anna Prior (Metronomy) about why festivals need to be gender-balanced and her advice to women coming through in the industry. Last year, the stats around female headlines was grim reading. It is clear that the industry is not nourishing and supporting women. You get the sense that articles like this will still be published next year – at a time where every festival should commit to a balanced line-up and feature women headlining.

If you can support the mighty, amazing and hugely important WIMIN Festival, that would be amazing. The festival’s director Holly Tulloch wants this to be a spaced where women can be front and centre. Where they can thrive without limitations. Together with an amazing team of women – including PR Manager Anna Grace Du Noyer -, here is a festival that not only provides this showcase of tremendous female talent. It should encourager other festivals to be more inclusive, safer and more aware of women, and it also highlights some brilliant emerging talent. Here is how you can support the brilliant festival headed by Holly Tulloch:

“I am a 26 year old woman and I work in the Liverpool events industry.

During my short career, I have experienced multiple examples of discrimination, physical and sexual abuse. It might be a surprise to some that the music industry is still heavily weighted against women. It is harder for our voices to be heard. Mentorship and learning opportunities are more difficult to come by. And even when our skills have been mastered, it is harder for us to put them into practice.

I am a Director of Scrapyard Studios CIC, a not-for-profit organisation in the North of Liverpool. We offer inclusive workshops and activities for artists and creatives in our local area. Through running these, I have met dozens of women who have had similar experiences to me. People who have faced sexual abuse, discrimination, gate-keeping - all for daring to pursue a career in their passion.

I realised that through Scrapyard I have a platform to try and address some of the injustices that women in the Liverpool events industry face.

WOMEN IN MUSIC SURVEY

In the summer of 2022, Scrapyard put out a survey for women in the local music industry to document their experiences. I wanted to see how many women were out there who had experienced similar things to me and get a better understanding of how Scrapyard could support women in the industry.

We received 100s of responses. Of the women who replied to the survey:

  • 64% said that they feel unsafe in Liverpool's music events and workspaces, with many citing instances of discrimination, harassment and emotional or physical harm

  • 88% said they wanted to see increased career development opportunities

  • 90% said they wanted more gigging opportunities

  • 94% more networking opportunities with women

  • 91% said they wanted to experience more leadership and mentoring opportunities

These findings did not shock me, but they did spur us on to take action.

 WHAT IS WIMIN FESTIVAL?

WIMIN Festival will be a one-day event taking place in North Liverpool. It will be organised entirely by women.

  • The management team is all women

  • The marketing team is all women

  • The production team and crew will all be women

  • The artists across our stages will all be female-fronted

  • Anyone will be allowed to attend

Most importantly, WIMIN will provide women in the Liverpool music scene with an opportunity to learn new skills from each other and apply them in a safe environment free from discrimination or abuse.

WIMIN will take place in the grounds of The Lock & Quay across two distinct spaces:

  • The Marquee will feature the very best up-and-coming female artists in Liverpool

  • The Garden will showcase local, female-founded independent businesses, who will share their experiences of working in the Liverpool music industry across a series of panels and workshops

Our ambition is to expand the festival to create a Main Stage that would feature well-known touring artists, allowing WIMIN to reach even more people across Merseyside.

THE TEAM

We have assembled a team of over 30 women based in Liverpool who are already working on the event. We are made up of established and aspiring events industry professionals, all rallied behind the common goal of putting on a progressive festival in a fair, abuse-free environment.

 We hold monthly full festival team meetings. The more experienced members of our network mentor the new talents. WIMIN will be an example of what can happen when large groups of people come together to showcase their skills on their own terms. Opportunities to learn and apply knowledge are few and far between. We have made our own career development opportunity.

We have partnered with numerous female-founded Liverpool businesses who have aligned themselves with our cause. These include We Want Women, Where Are The Girl Bands, Bitch Palace and Sounds Northern, and all will be featuring in The Garden during the event.

 WHY DO WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT?

Scrapyard is a not-for-profit company, and festivals cost a lot of money to make happen. From the artists performing, the production, the staff working across the day, there are many costs that we simply cannot cover on our own. We are looking into sponsorship opportunities, funding bids and even hosting monthly Gals Who Gig events to help fund the project. 

I know that there are more in Liverpool who feel like I do. Have experienced worse than what I have. I have got to know many of them well over the past few months. So most importantly we are looking for help from people who feel that our story resonates with them, to enable us to make a difference in our community.

The traction that WIMIN has already gathered on a purely word-of-mouth basis has been so exciting. We now want to bring it to the rest of the city.

WIMIN Festival will take place on July 29th 2023.

The Lock & Quay

11am - 10pm

We are grateful for any support we can get for the festival, and all those who donate over £20 will be granted access to the event.

If anyone would like to get involved or find out more, they can reach us via email.

Thank you”.

Be sure to spread the word and support WIMIN Festival. Whilst many other festivals this year will feature no female headliners and are not as inclusive they should be, there is this amazing festival that is nurturing and backing important women, both as performers and those who want to get into areas like production. As I said, I hope eyes are opened to the continued inequalities and discrimination. WIMIN Festival shows that there is this demand and need to see more women on bills! As I also keep saying when ending features regarding festivals and gender inequality, let’s hope that things…

IMPROVE next year.

Sam Liddicott