The ninth annual LADYFEST takes place Saturday at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs, bringing together local artists across a range of genres, as well as artisans and food vendors.
Founder Kelly Feirtag first came up with the idea for LADYFEST with Rose Guerin while working as the manager of the Ritz. She noticed that while the Vineyard’s male musicians were frequently featured in professional photographs on the establishment’s walls, there were far fewer photos of the Island’s female musicians.
“So we decided to do a night dedicated to the female musicians,” Ms. Feirtag said during an interview with the Gazette this week. “The owner, Larkin Stallings, had a really good relationship with CONNECT to End Violence, and he suggested we do it to benefit them.”
CONNECT to End Violence is the Island’s domestic violence awareness program and rape crisis center. Since LADYFEST began, 100 per cent of ticket sales and all proceeds after festival expenses — including donations, sponsorships and vendor booth fees — have gone directly to the organization.
Last year, the festival moved from downtown Oak Bluffs to Waban Park, which comes with additional fees paid to the town of Oak Bluffs. Ms. Feirtag wanted to ensure that LADYFEST could continue making a substantial donation to CONNECT to End Violence despite the increased costs. As a result, tickets now cost $35. Until last year, admission was based on suggested donations.
But Ms. Feirtag does not expect the ticket price to deter attendees.
“Last year I think there were about 1,000 people, and I just feel like because people saw how awesome it was last time, I think more people will show up this year,” she said.
The event has always taken place in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. For Ms. Feirtag, the timing is important because it allows LADYFEST to put the year-round Island community at the center of the event.
“I know for fact that the community aspect of this is the biggest thing [for attendees],” Ms. Feirtag said. “You see all of your friends and neighbors there that may have not been out and about since the spring, because the summer is so wild for everybody. It just feels like a giant family reunion.”
This year, LADYFEST is being joined by HERitage, a new event organized by Sarah Shaw Dawson. HERitage takes place on Friday, the day before LADYFEST, at Stillpoint in West Tisbury.
This summer, Ms. Shaw Dawson noticed women-led bands were playing far fewer gigs than male ones, and she wanted to do something about it. As a performing musician herself, she is immersed in the Island’s music community. She reached out to fellow female and non-binary performers to ask if they’d be interested in an event like HERitage.
Originally, Ms. Shaw Dawson hoped to host the event at a different time of year so it would not overlap with LADYFEST. But she eventually saw an opportunity for the two events to complement one another.
“It’s separate events at two separate places, but since the causes are so aligned, it’s in solidarity,” she said.
Although the events have been organized separately, Ms. Feirtag said she welcomed HERitage and its connection to LADYFEST’s mission
“I don’t feel like I own LADYFEST. I feel like everybody gets a piece of it, and the fact that [HERitage] thought to reach out to us was really meaningful,” Ms. Feirtag said. “And I am so happy to be able to support them, and that they’re supporting us. I hope everybody goes. It’s a cool kickoff to an amazing weekend.”
Ms. Shaw Dawson said HERitage will have a distinct atmosphere.
“The intention of the festival that I’m putting together is really cozy, with warm lighting, an enclosed space, lots of color and a lot of art that you have time to look at,” she said. “A little more kind of like languishing in the energy, interacting with musicians on the same level.”
The HERitage stage will sit just a few inches off the floor, Ms. Shaw Dawson said, creating a more intimate space between performers and audience members.
Ms. Shaw Dawson was quick to emphasize her support for LADYFEST.
“I think LADYFEST does an incredible job,” she said. “That’s kind of how this all came about. I think there should be more and more spaces [like LADYFEST].”
For years, Ms. Feirtag did not publicly acknowledge her own connection to the issue at the heart of LADYFEST. Last Tuesday, she shared her experience with domestic violence publicly for the first time through the LADYFEST Instagram account.
“I posted on our social media a little bit about my own background with domestic violence. I haven’t talked publicly or barely privately about that,” she said. “For the first eight years of LADYFEST, I don’t think I would admit to myself that I was in that group. But I know that my heart was like, ‘This is why you’re doing it.’”
In the post, Ms. Feirtag wrote about an abusive relationship she was in 20 years ago, and how her father and her sister helped her secretly move out of her ex-partner’s home.
“When I was young I was in a really scary relationship,” she wrote. “I didn’t have the words to know what was happening. I just knew I was wildly anxious, isolated from my friends, and scared all the time.”
Ms. Feirtag says she wishes she would have had access to a resource like CONNECT to End Violence at that time in her life, but she’s glad she can now help others access it.
“I’m grateful for how everything turned out, but if I had a place like CONNECT to End Violence when I was young I might not have missed out on so many life experiences and years of carefree adolescence,” she wrote.
Ms. Feirtag said the Vineyard itself has played an important role in her healing. After escaping the bad relationship, her parents bought her a one way ticket to Martha’s Vineyard, where she had spent many summers with her childhood friend’s family.
“Martha’s Vineyard was my place to come and heal after that happened,” she said. “The Island is just deeply meaningful to me, and I am incredibly grateful for everything that this Island has given me.”
Now, Ms. Feirtag hopes she can take that experience and use it to help others.
“LADYFEST MV is my small way of giving back to the Island and people that saved my life in hopes that it helps another person get out of an uncontrollable and unbearable situation,” she said.
LADYFEST takes place in Waban Park from 1 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.