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(U-WIRE) NORMAL, Ill. -- The longest running women's music festival in North America made a stop at Illinois State University over the weekend.
Director of the women's and gender studies program and associate professor of philosophy Alison Bailey said the 31st annual National Women's Music Festival included a marketplace featuring clothes, crafts and more, workshops on spiritual healing, health and culture and performances by many different artists.
"This festival has been going on for nearly 40 years and features all different types of events and performers. Some of the music usually performed is folk as well as some rock and some blues. There are also performances featuring younger, up-and-coming artists," Bailey said. Producer of the National Women's Music Festival Jane Weldon said the festival is an event that celebrates women's culture and music and tends to be a big event. According to Weldon, this year was no exception.
Bailey said the event was well attended and brought in around 350 to 400 patrons.
"Original sign ups were low because this festival was not held here last year. Eventually, though, we had to move one of the events from the Bone Student Center to Capen Auditorium to accommodate the large number of people that showed up," Bailey said.
Some featured up and coming performers of this year's festival included the Kentucky Bootleggers, Amy Annette, Toni Sicola, Julie Loyd, Laura Powers, Trina Hamlin and Kara Kulpa.
Though the festival is the oldest in the country and has been around since 1974, this is the first time it has ever visited ISU's campus.
"This was started as a venue for women's art and music and it is always held on a college campus but never here before," Weldon said.
"There was a search committee that went out looking for campuses that best fit our needs based on the needed performance space, workshop space, etc ..."
"It has been held in the past at Indiana University for a number of years, Ball State University and the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana so it has moved around a lot," she said.
Weldon got involved with the festival as she has been around the women's music scene producing events for many years now.
The festival began being presented by Women In the Arts after they became officially incorporated with each other in 1982 as a nonprofit organization which was trying to promote the arts and crafts of women.
Bailey said it is a piece of history because it started after the second wave of the feminist movement in the late 60s.
"Books, music and the woman's body were not addressed back then. This is one response to that," she said.
Bailey said she believes this was just a start up year for something that will become much larger.
"Women In the Arts and ISU have a contract for three years, so the festival will definitely be back and growing for two more years, though I am hoping for this to be its permanent location," she said.
Bailey said she is happy to have had the festival on campus, is proud to be sponsoring it and having it in the community.
(C) 2006 The Daily Vidette via U-WIRE
