The 10th Annual LadyFest New Orleans will take place at locations across town from October 29 through November 6.

The party will kick off at the Louisiana Music Factory from 2-5pm on Saturday, October 29 with the release of the 2016 LadyFest New Orleans compilation CD.  Lili Lewis, Venessa Williams, Kim Roberts (Queen Blackoldmadina) and Joy Clark are set to perform.

Previous LadyFest New Orleans compilation CDs contained music ranging from Margie Perez to Gaynielle Neville and Ingrid Lucia to Sharon Martin. The CD release will be followed by a LadyFest Halloween party hosted by festival organizer Roselyn Lionhart.

LadyFest New Orleans is a festival organized by local women to celebrate the music, poetry, film, art and activism of women in the region (our own Jan Ramsey penned a blog entry about the festival this week). The non-profit organization helps other local organizations that support women.

Ladyfest was first held in Olympia, Washington in 2000. The celebration of women has spread around the world with festivals held in many international cities including London, Berlin, Dublin and Madrid. In the United States LadyFest is held in Atlanta, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and many other cities.

LadyFest New Orleans will host a number of activities, including poetry readings with Gina Ferrara, Nancy Dixon, Maddy Levy and many others on Wednesday, November 2. That event will be held in a private residence at 2448 N. Villere Street, and will include music from Sandra Johnson and James Singleton. Another reading session will take place at a private residence at 1432 Magazine Street on Saturday, November 5, and will feature Jade Hurter, Nicole Eiden and many others. Rain Prud’homme-Cranford (Gomez), Ph.D., Roselyn Lionhart and others will also hold a reading the Material Life Gallery on Tuesday, November 1.

On Thursday, November 3, Chickie Wah Wah will welcome Sisters Got Soul, a trio featuring musicians Cole Williams, Lili Lewis and Joy Clark. On Friday, November 4, Best of the Beat Heartbeat award recipient Pat Jolly will host music with Betty Shirley, Sharon Martin, Jenna McSwain, Naydja Cole and Cecile Savage at Prime Example. Vanessa Vee Jay Williams, Louisiana Lightning and Zena Moss present music at Sweet Lorraine on Saturday, November 5.

Other activities include a conversation on the state of New Orleans women at the 9th Ward Juke Joint on Saturday, November 5 and a sneak preview of the film Fear No Gumbo by Kim Roberts, producer of Trouble the Water, at Café Istanbul on Sunday, November 6. Also scheduled is a rare performance from the Honeypots–Lynn Drury, Margie Perez and Monica McIntyre–who are set to perform at the 9th Ward Juke Joint following the conversation on the state of New Orleans women.

A number of parades will also march at different locations over the course of the festival.

More information on LadyFest New Orleans can be found via the event’s website.