Wednesday 20 October 2010

a word in the ear from ladyfest ten...


it’s taken almost a year of organising from an assortment of apparently super-human collectives and volunteers, but finally it’s all come together. ladyfest ten, the tenth birthday of the global non-profit independent arts festival, lands in london in just three weeks time.

our intentions may have been noble, but putting on a three-day festival with an iconic, internationally-known line-up on next to no money isn’t easy. but, after months of fundraising events including literary pub quizzes, le tigre karaoke, a zombie prom on halloween and alternative life drawing salons with nude rollergirls, burlesque beauties and even a certain gabby young, we’re now three weeks away and almost ready to rumble.

from friday 12th to Sunday 14th november, ladyfest ten will be taking over highbury corner and setting up shop in four nearby venues to celebrate a decade of d.i.y feminist arts and activism, from the first ever ladyfest (which took place in 2000 in olympia and featured bratmobile, sleater-kinney and the gossip), right through to today.

whilst we at ‘for books’ sake’ have been labouring over a line-up of literary luminaries, including crime noir queen cathi unsworth, bestselling novelist scarlett thomas, spoken word superstar laura dockrill and many more, the others have been beavering away just as busily on a stellar programme that includes top-notch female-fronted music, comedy, cabaret, craft, workshops, film and art.

in the lady garden, there will be crafty classes including a tatty devine jewellery clinic and pedalkraft’s customisation station, where you’ll be able to tart up your tired clobber or rummage in their charity shop finds for a new item to transform. more of a bookworm, but been credit-crunched? don’t despair, we’ve got you covered too. just bring along your old and unwanted books to swap at our travelling suitcase library. sorted.

being something of a le tigre obsessive, i’m especially psyched about seeing ‘men’ on saturday, and the ladyfest ten birthday party will be an epic night; the lovely ladies of unskinny bop are djing, and in the most fortuitous combination ever for comedy photo evidence afterwards, there will be a photobooth, temporary tattoo parlour and a moustache bar. what more could you want?


advance day tickets are a mere £12.50. get yours soon before they’re all gone, from the ladyfest ten website.

http://ladyfestten.com/

[Jane Bradley, editor ‘for books sake’ and ladyfest organiser]

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