Back in 2022, I went to my first LOUD WOMEN Fest and felt like I had arrived at my musical spiritual home. I have attended every year since, and it has become one of the yearly highlights of my musical calendar.
For those who may have been living under a rock for the last eleven years, LOUD WOMEN is a grassroots music network masterminded by Cassie Fox, championing and giving a stage to female, non-binary and and femme-led bands. What started as one small DIY gig in London has grown exponentially over the years, while still keeping its punk and DIY roots firmly at its core.
The feminist network has now grown to reach other corners of the globe – four continents, to be precise. This year, LOUD WOMEN has already hosted an awesome takeover of the Introducing Stage at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool and held a LOUD WOMEN Fest in Dublin. Still to come are festivals in Wales, Canada, the USA, Japan and Australia, as well as, of course, its birthplace of London.
LOUD WOMEN Fest London takes place next weekend, on Saturday 5 September, at Bethnal Green venue Rich Mix. Doors open at 12.30pm, with music starting from 1pm and continuing right through until 11pm, with a suitably worldwide line-up of artists including folk witch band FOLKULAKA from Ukraine, Lilith Left The Garden from the Netherlands and Second Idol from Sydney, Australia, just to name a few.
From my own experience of attending the festival over the last few years, I have always found the line-up to be wonderfully diverse musically too. I have seen punk bands, dance-oriented bands, metal bands and plenty more. Every year I discover new bands, with some of those discoveries from previous years going on to become firm favourites.
If you want to, you can experience every band at the festival, as the two stages are programmed so that there are no clashes. There is also such a positive and welcoming atmosphere that you really do feel at home, whether you arrive knowing lots of people or are turning up on your own.
The London festival is supported by Arts Council England, and LOUD WOMEN also collaborates with Women for Refugee Women, Rainbow Migration, Alliance for Choice, Resonance FM and Topple & Burn.
The Line-Up
As always, the line-up is packed with artists from across the UK and beyond. There are already a few artists I can personally recommend, including Hagar the Womb, I, Doris, Skint Knees, The NaNaz and WREX, all of whom I have seen live and loved. But half the fun of LOUD WOMEN Fest is discovering the artists you haven’t heard before, so I’m equally excited to see what new favourites I come away with this year.
Bill Ricky (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Bullshit Boy (Germany)
Diva Cup (USA)
FOLKULAKA (Ukraine)
French Toast (London, UK)
Hagar the Womb (London, UK)
I, Doris (London, UK)
Lady Lazarus (Australia/Germany)
Lilith Left The Garden (Netherlands)
MADELINE (Canada)
Maria Uzor (Norwich, UK)
Muddy Summers and the Dirty Field Whores (UK)
Second Idol (Sydney, Australia)
SheBeat (UK)
Shiv and the Carvers (Toronto, Canada)
Skint Knees (UK)
The NaNaz (Wales)
THWACK! (UK)
WREX (UK)
1 WEEK TO GO!
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, what are you waiting for? Every year this festival knocks me off my feet, so my advice is simple:
RUN, DON’T WALK.
Festival Details
Saturday 5 September 2026
Rich Mix
35–47 Bethnal Green Road
London
Doors: 12.30pm
First artist: 1pm
Curfew: 11pm
All ages | Two stages | 19 artists
LOUD WOMEN Online- Website/Facebook/Instagram
Feature by Hayley Foster da Silva
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