Women's Music Festivals
The first women's music festival occurred in 1973 at Sacramento State University. From 1973-1976 many other festivals were organized including the first National Women's Music Festival at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1974. The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival was created in 1976, and has become the largest festival in the United States. Newer festivals include Lilith Fair which toured from 1997–1999; The Ohio Lesbian Festival, near Columbus Ohio, was created in 1988 and continues to be an ongoing celebration of womyn's music and culture. The Eastman School of Music’s Women in Music Festival was begun in 2005 as a celebration of the contributions of women to all aspects of music: composition, performance, teaching, scholarship, and administration. From its modest beginnings of Eastman students and faculty members performing music by women composers, the Festival has grown to include additional concerts and events throughout Rochester, NY and to host composers-in-residence, who have included Tania León (2007), Nancy Van de Vate (2008), Judith Lang Zaimont (2009), Emma Lou Diemer (2010), and Hilary Tann (2011). To date, the Women in Music Festival has presented more than 291 different works by 158 composers. Many other festivals have been created throughout the United States and Canada since the mid-1970s and vary in size from a few hundred to thousands of attendees. The newest festival is the Los Angeles Women's Music Festival, which kicked off in 2007 with over 2500 attendees, and which will return in 2009.
Though the festivals are centered on music, they support many other facets of lesbian and feminist culture. Designed to provide a safe space for women's music and culture, many festivals are held on college campuses or in remote rural locations. Many festivals offer workshops on topics concerning the lesbian and feminist community, offer activities such as arts, crafts, fitness classes, and athletic events, and serve to provide opportunities for women to take advantage of resources they often cannot find in mainstream culture. Bonnie Morris describes in her book Eden Built by Eves, how festivals serve women throughout the stages of their lives. Festivals support a safe space for coming of age rituals for young women, adult romance and commitment ceremonies, the expression of alternative perspectives on motherhood, and the expression of grief and loss. Currently, festivals continue to thrive in the United States and other countries.
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