Statement Festival
The Statement Festival is an annual festival in Sweden for women, non-binary and transgender persons. It took first place in Gothenburg in 30 September to 1 August 2018.[1][2][3][4] Cis men (men who are not transgender) are barred as both visitors and artists.[5][6][7] Men who are technicians, managers and part of artists' entourages are restricted to a cordoned-off area backstage dubbed the "manpen" (Swedish: manshage).[8]
For visitors there is an 18 year age limit.[8]
The idea of a "man-free festival" came from comedian Emma Knyckare after several festivals in the preceding seasons such as Bråvalla Festival and We Are Sthlm had problems with rape and sexual assault among the festivalgoers.[1] She presented the idea on Twitter and the number of positive responses she received encouraged her to organise the event.[9] In 2017 a crowdfunding Kickstarter campaign raised about 50 000 euro towards organising the festival.[1][2] In the autumn of 2017, the organisers contacted lawyers in order to comply with laws on the equal treatment of men and women.[10]
In May 2018, Emma Knyckare in May 2018 added a long term goal to the festival: to open the festival also to all men.[11] The festival received 200 000 kronor in state subsidies from the Swedish Arts Council in 2018.[11][12]
The festival organisers are about 30 individuals.[8]
Among the booked artists are Frida Hyvönen and Dolores Haze,[13] Maxida Märak, Radula, Beatrice Eli, [14] Ionnalee and British rock band Girlschool.[15] Comedians Nour El-Refai och Josefin Johansson will also appear. [16]
In July 2018, the Swedish Equality Ombudsman initated an inquiry on whether the organisers are breaking the laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender.[17] The organisers replied to the discrimination ombudsman that non-transgender men were allowed entrance.[18][19]
References
- ^ a b c "Swedish women-only music festival to take place 'until men learn how to behave themselves'". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ a b Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (2017-10-09). "Women-only music festival in Sweden to go ahead after crowdfunding campaign". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ White, Adam (2017-07-06). "Swedish music festival to go 'women-only' following string of sexual assaults". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Mansfri festival hålls i Göteborg - P4 Göteborg" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "This Is What 'Cisgender' Means". Time. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "LGBTQ+ Definitions – Trans Student Educational Resources". www.transstudent.org. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Fyra nya festivaler bokar enbart kvinnor, transpersoner och icke-binära - Kulturnytt i P1" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ a b c "Emma Knyckare: "Man borde göra en festival utan män, så blir vi av med problemet" - DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Fyra nya festivaler bokar enbart kvinnor, transpersoner och icke-binära - Kulturnytt i P1" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ Nyheter, SVT (2017-09-08). "Emma Knyckare: Det kommer bli mäktigt". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ a b "Statementfestivalen kan välkomna cis-män". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Musikarrangörer - Kulturradet". www.kulturradet.se (in Swedish). 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- ^ "Artister". Statement Festival. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
- ^ "Fyra nya till Statement Festival". gaffa.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "Statement Festival bokar legendariskt rockband som firar 40". gaffa.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "Komiker intar Statement Festival". gaffa.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "DO granskar mansfria festivalen". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- ^ "Mansfri festival släpper in män". SVT.se. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Statement är den lyckligaste festivalen jag varit på". Aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
External links
- Statement Festival official home page in English