Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 11:13 am
After postponing the original dates in early March due to
the covid restrictions at summer s-end, GRRRL FEST
Kirikiriroa (GF) is ramping up again for the first ever
round of female-led festivities.
Founded on
four creative cornerstones - visual art, music, performing
art and makers market - Never Project Space hosted the GF
art exhibition called ‘Work’ back in March and the
remaining events have been compressed into a ‘mini’
version of the festival.
After a small break and a
reshuffle of events, festival director Gwyn Barrie says that
although it’s been tough, she and the team were determined
A group of the biggest names in New Zealand music, including Lorde, Bic Runga, Anika Moa, Anna Coddington and Tami Neilson, subsequently released an open letter urging industry leaders and workers to examine their own behaviour. When her friend Gwyn Barrie came up with the idea for Grrrl Fest – a music and arts festival with a kaupapa of inclusion for women and gender non-binary artists – Waswo said she jumped at the opportunity to be involved. The festival was conceived as a response to a lack of female and gender non-binary representation in Hamilton’s music scene, and has grown to encompass visual arts, performance and a maker’s market.
Monday, 25 January 2021, 4:50 pm
GRRRL
FEST organisers (L-R) Kat Waswo, Gwyn Barrie and Lisa
Clausen celebrating at the GRRRL FEST Launch in November,
2020.
Devised after the 2020
lockdown by some passionate local women, GRRRL FEST
Kirikiriroa is set for its debut weekend-long event to
celebrate local creative talent alongside International
Women’s Day.
GRRRL FEST is a three-day women-led
multimedia festival held over the weekend of Friday 5th to
Sunday 7th of March, designed to celebrate four main aspects
of Hamilton’s local creative arts communities: music,
visual arts, market makers and performing
arts.
Aligning with the International Women’s Day
2021 theme of ‘Choose to Challenge’ - GRRRL FEST is also