http://ladyfestbton.tumblr.com/

Ive realised I have not updated on the get fit and healthy pledge for over 3 weeks, this does not mean I haven’t been keeping with it, I guess I’ve just not been so strict.
Earlier I felt a bit bad about it if I’m honest, I mean, I’m half way to my original goal so I should be determined more than ever, it’s not that I’m not, I guess I just kinda burnt myself out recently.

We completed the 13 mile sponsored walk. My ankle hasn’t felt it’s best, I then got an infection which has only just completely disappeared. The stress leading up to the book launch, the not being able to get up in the mornings and the huge amount of work I’ve had on also haven’t helped matters either.

I guess it seems like I’m making excuses
6 months I’ve been so strict and good with myself
We’re all allowed a break, especially when I haven’t actually had any proper time off work since March and that was the first time since the September before.

I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I’m just scared of undoing all my hard work, that’s all.

Ladyfest Brighton 2012

General Meeting 10/07/2011
Marlborough Pub and Theatre, 4 Princes Street, Brighton

Present:Tash Murphy
Francisca Goncalves
Laura Simmons
Lou Bevan
Rachel JamesRobin Duval
Rebecca TrebilcockRory Finn
Terri-Sian Fairs

1. Background

Terri-Sian had decided that she would like to put on a Ladyfest in Brighton next year and decided the first step was to put together a committee of people to work together in setting up and organising this event.

The first port of call will be to arrange a date, a structure and a mission statement before we start looking at what we would like to put on the programme.

Here’s a little information about Ladyfest.

Ladyfest is a community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for female artists that features bands, musical groups, performance artists, authors, spoken word and visual artists, films, lectures, art exhibitions and workshops; it is organized by volunteers.

The first ever Ladyfest was conducted in Olympia, Washington in August 2000 with over 2000 people attending. Prime motivators in the event were Sarah Dougher, Sleater-Kinney, and Teresa Carmody. Also performing were The Gossip, Bangs, The Need, The Rondelles and Bratmobile.

Since the first Ladyfest, the event has branched out into other urban centres such as Amsterdam, Atlanta, Belfast, Belgium, Bellingham, Berlin, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Brighton, Bristol, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Columbus[disambiguation needed], Cork, Chicago, Cardiff, Dijon, Dublin, Glasgow, Grenoble, Lansing, MI, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Orlando, Ottawa, Oxford, Philadelphia, Scranton, San Francisco, San Diego, Sevilla, Texas, Toronto, Toulouse, Traverse City, Washington DC, Wellington, New Orleans, New Zealand and more. Each new festival is organized locally and independently of other Ladyfest events in other states or countries, primarily by volunteers, and most proceeds are donated to non-profit organizations.”

The group introduced themselves, giving a little information in past experiences with events that they had attended or worked within, what they felt they could bring to the committee, their beliefs and ethics.

2. Date

It was discussed that perhaps the festival could span over a two week period, with the main events during the weekend and workshops and other events within the week.

Both September and October were suggested. September would be more accessable for the students and October as it gives something to look forward to after the Summer.

The last Ladyfest Brighton (2005) was held over four days at the end of October which worked really well.

3. Finance

It was suggested that we contact past Ladyfest organisers to find out if they needed to register as a charity.

Past organisations who gave grants to LFB 05 were;

Feminist Review

CDEC

Brighton and Hove Community Festivals
Performing Rights Society

Brighton and Hove Art’s Council

It was decided that we would start applying for grants once our Manifesto and Mission Statement complete and once we knew the scale of festival.

Some participants did not like the idea of gaining sponsorship, especially from corporate companies.

A lot of the participants did not feel comfortable in being in charge of the financial side of the running of the festival.

It was suggested that The Co-Op bank was a good option for a small group account.

4. Manifesto / Mission Statement

This is the most urgent item on the agenda as we cannot progress onto other matters such as applying for grants, deciding a programme or even setting a concrete date until we have completed this as the content will influence these factors greatly.

It was decided that in order to complete this as swiftly as possible we will need to have regular meetings, no longer than fortnightly apart as this could take a while to complete.

Subjects to consider;

Politics

Affiliations

Community Issues

Exclusivity

Sexual Equality

Ethics

Members of the committee do not need to attend the meetings to be included with the writing of the manifesto, all ideas / points can be emailed to ladyfestbton12@hotmail.co.uk

We all felt that Ladyfest Brighton 2005 was a great excellent example of the layout of their aims;

http://www.ladyfestbrighton.co.uk/about1.html#AIMS

Links to other past manifesto’s have been included at the bottom of this document.

5. Issues Raised

There were concerns that the statement “Feminist” and even labelling the festival “Ladyfest” may discourage participation.

It was decided that we should define what “feminism” means to us and that no matter what name you give a festival there will always be a certain expectation to any description.

It was felt that there should be no pressure on anyone who would like to be involved in this process to feel they really have to contribute with a list of ideas.

We discussed what meeting etiquette we could adopt when the number of participants grows, how we can include everyone with certain signals with agreeing / disagreeing with decision making and a non – hierarchy environment and if that was possible.

Is this committee accessible to everyone who would like to be involved? Has everyone got access to the internet? Would making flyers help reach those who haven’t?

6. Summary Of Action Points

Ressurect the Ladyfest Brighton Yahoo Group

Contact past organisers for information on financing

Set up Mailing List

Send minutes round to everyone on mailing list and make a note on facebook.

Bring ideas for manifesto / mission statement along to next meeting

Research past Ladyfest manifesto / mission statements and bring we feel is both good and bad examples along to next meeting

Next Meeting:

Sunday 18^th July @ 5pm

The Marlborough Pub and Theatre

4 Princes Street

Brighton

BN2 1RB

Links:

Ladyfest Brighton 2005

http://www.ladyfestbrighton.co.uk/

Ladyfest Paris 2011

http://ladyfestparis.tumblr.com/

Ladyfest Deep South 2011

http://ladyfest2011.tumblr.com/

Ladyfest Amsterdam 2008/09

http://www.myspace.com/ladyfestamsterdam

Ladyfest London 2010

http://www.myspace.com/LadyfestTen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladyfest

An interview that Tash found that discusses a lot of the ethics/politics/social impacts of putting on a Ladyfest;

http://www.grassrootsfeminism.net/cms/node/158

“As some of you might know I have decided to put on a Ladyfest in Brighton next year.

Before we can get down to the nitty gritty I need a committee of awesome people to help me set up and organise this event.

I know a lot of you cannot attend every meeting due to distance but I would still love to have your input for this event.

My first port of call will be to arrange a date, a structure and a mission statement before we start booking bands etc BUT I do have some exciting avenues lined up…

Here’s a little information about Ladyfest.

Ladyfest is a community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for female artists that features bands, musical groups, performance artists, authors, spoken word and visual artists, films, lectures, art exhibitions and workshops; it is organized by volunteers.

The first ever Ladyfest was conducted in Olympia, Washington in August 2000 with over 2000 people attending. Prime motivators in the event were Sarah Dougher, Sleater-Kinney, and Teresa Carmody. Also performing were The Gossip, Bangs, The Need, The Rondelles and Bratmobile.

Since the first Ladyfest, the event has branched out into other urban centres such as Amsterdam, Atlanta, Belfast, Belgium, Bellingham, Berlin, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Brighton, Bristol, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Columbus[disambiguation needed], Cork, Chicago, Cardiff, Dijon, Dublin, Glasgow, Grenoble, Lansing, MI, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Orlando, Ottawa, Oxford, Philadelphia, Scranton, San Francisco, San Diego, Sevilla, Texas, Toronto, Toulouse, Traverse City, Washington DC, Wellington, New Orleans, New Zealand and more. Each new festival is organized locally and independently of other Ladyfest events in other states or countries, primarily by volunteers, and most proceeds are donated to non-profit organizations.”.

I must say I am quite shocked at the superficial behavior I have witnessed recently.

I do understand that unfortunately we do still live in a world where people like to look at “beautiful” women but seriously, what is so appealing about fake, orange, run of the mill beauty?

I’ve worked SO hard this year on becoming healthier, I made a real effort with looking as good as I could for a certain event just to be asked to leave photos so these “beautiful” girls could be snapped.
I was part of the same team.

I did feel intimidated.

It did make me feel ugly.

I’m going to be honest… I’m really struggling with my self esteem as it is and this hasn’t helped at all.
It has really made me question society, especially as it was in an “alternative” environment

Have we really moved on? Are we really aware of the effects things like this have on other people? Do we really care?