I originally put up this
web page because I wanted an easy way for readers to find my women's
music festival journal entries and photos. Well, that was before
I'd attended Detroit's music festivals as an online journal-keeper
with digital camera in hand. The Concert of Colors in July and
the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival on Labor Day weekend
both celebrate this city's unique blending of diverse cultures
and music. Believe me, Detroit really knows how to party...and
it's all free! Click on the links below to see for yourself:
CONCERT OF COLORS 2001
CONCERT
OF COLORS 2002
CONCERT
OF COLORS 2003
CONCERT OF COLORS 2004
FORD
DETROIT INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2001
FORD DETROIT INTERNATIONAL
JAZZ FEST 2003 PHOTO ALBUM
DETROIT FESTIVAL OF
THE ARTS 2003 PHOTO ALBUMS
And now, let me tell you the story of how women's music festivals and I found one another.
In August 1993, a friend came back to the refugee shelter where we co-facilitated art and said, "I've just been someplace that I think you'd love!" One year later I spent the second week in August--a cold, rainy week--tenting at the 19th annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival with 1000s of womyn on 650 acres of forests and meadows in the western part of the state. The following spring, I drove down to the 21st annual National Women's Music Festival, then held on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, and again immersed myself in a world of women. Thus began my love affair with this entity called women's music festivals. Since then I've attended 9 Michigan festivals and 7 Nationals.
By the way, I was 52 years old at my first Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, married to a man for 28 years, 6 years diagnosed with chronic progressive MS, had not camped out for 38 years, and went alone. I knew one womon on the land--my co-facilitator of art--and we ran into one other two times all week. So much for reasons not to try something new!
In 2001 I brought my digital
camera and my journal-keeping eye to both the NWMF (National Women's
Music Festival) in June and the MWMF (Michigan Womyn's Music Festival)
in August. Years have passed and I've already attended the NWMF
2002 & 2004 and the MWMF 2002 & 2003. What follows are
the photo-illustrated journal entries that I put up on my web
site soon after returning home. Click on the highlighted links
to read them:
NATIONAL WOMEN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 2001
NATIONAL
WOMEN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 2002
NATIONAL WOMEN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL
2004
MICHIGAN
WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 2001
MICHIGAN
WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 2002
MICHIGAN WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 2003
MICHIGAN
WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL PHOTO ALBUMS 2003
MICHIGAN WOMYN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL
PHOTO-JOURNALS 2004
And I don't want to forget another music event that I've been privileged to attend for a good number of years: Judy Fjell's WoMaMu (Women Making Music) camp in Northern California.