Tri-State WomonFest may be two days next year

by Anthony Glassman

Cincinnati--Over 700 women descended on Maple Ridge Lodge in Mount Airy Forest last weekend for the 14th annual Tri-State WomonFest.

As musicians performed on stage, women picnicked, played games and enjoyed a day in the park.

?During the day, we had a women?s football game, several volleyball games, cornhole and lots of food,? said Women?s Way executive director Bev Bowers, who also produced the festival. ?Everyone had a great time.?

It was the second event following a two-year hiatus for WomonFest, which started in 1992. It is held in Cincinnati as the meeting point for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

WomonFest happened every year until 2003, then was revivified in 2006. It is now produced under the auspices of Women?s Way.

Bowers was impressed by the support the festival got from musicians this year. A commemorative CD was put together, WomonFest 2007, and even artists who could not perform at the festival contributed songs.

?Some of the artists that wanted to come but could not connect with us this year gave us a song too,? she said. ?We even got one from Italy. We had it produced by Mac Productions in Covington, Kentucky. We sold 55 during the festival, gave some away during the raffle and we are taking orders for them at www.tristatewomonfest.com.?

Official headcounts at various times during the August 18 event had 225 women, then 410, then 227, but those numbers probably do not accurately reflect attendance.

?We sold 705 tickets,? Bowers said. ?This is a large park, so the people were spread out in workshops, picnicking privately in hillside areas, some took to shady areas and played cards, many sat out in the sun or under tents and listened to the music.?

The festival was successful enough that organizers were able to put away seed money for next year?s event, which they are considering extending.

?One change we are considering for next year is expanding the festival to two days so the artists will have more stage time,? Bowers noted. ?We also had over 25 vendors that had to set up and tear down in one day. I think a two-day festival would be helpful for those folks, too.?

?Our ideal spot would be a park that includes camping. Cross your fingers,? she laughed.

Many of the bars and clubs that sponsored the festival also held after-parties, and some of the 13 artists at the festival performed at them.

?Tracy Walker, Tracy Rice, Jayne Sachs and Robin Stone played,? she said. ?Robin Stone?s performance sold out at Adonis, so the gay women were party-crazy all day long and into the night in Cincy.?

Those who missed the festival can catch the music performances at www.thecoverzone.com, a website focused on women in rock music.