Honoring the original intention of Women’s Equality Day, which is celebrated every year to commemorate the day the 19th Amendment was ratified to the U.S. Constitution, the festival is focused on promoting the importance of voting to achieve gender equality. Courtesy photo.
The Women’s Museum of California will celebrate Women’s Equality Day this year with a festival that celebrates the journey toward gender equality through music, dance, storytelling, and interactive arts activities, as well as a women-owned business and artist marketplace.
The free festival is on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival will take place on the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center campus located at 404 Euclid Ave., in Southeast San Diego including the Market Creek Amphitheater, Celebration Court, and the Women’s Museum of California’s Education Center.
Honoring the original intention of Women’s Equality Day, which is celebrated every year to commemorate the day the 19th Amendment was ratified to the U.S. Constitution, the festival is focused on promoting the importance of voting to achieve gender equality.
“The festival is not only a celebration but a call to action to exercise our right to vote!” said Women’s Museum of California Executive Director Felicia Shaw. “The event will provide a space for everyone to gather and be inspired to continue the fight for gender equality because our freedoms are not guaranteed. The most powerful defense we have is to vote for leaders who share our commitment to protecting women’s rights.”
The Women’s Museum of California is partnering with community organizations that promote gender equality to produce the festival including Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, League of Women Voters San Diego, Women Empowerment International, Lawyers Club of San Diego, San Diego Writer’s Ink, San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, the United Nations Association – San Diego, Hera Hub, San Diego Chapter of National Organization for Women and Period with Dignity/Fulfilling Destiny.
Highlights of this year’s programming include:
- Land acknowledgment by Chairwoman of the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation Angela Elliott-Santos, speeches from Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, and Assemblymember Akilah Weber, MD, and remarks from San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and former Congresswoman Susan Davis
- Performances spanning song, traditional – including Mexican Baile Folklorico, Chicano, and Filipino – and modern dance, poetry, spoken word, music and improv, and standup comedy from local women entertainers
- Hands-on activities and workshops that tie activism and arts together including making posters, buttons, custom prints, and pom poms and participating in a community loom project
- “The Mannequin Project” – a display of mannequins reimagined as art installations inspired by historical women figures, such as Toni Morrison, Howardina Pindell, Martha Rosler, Chavela Vargas, and the Las Adelitas
- Free admission to the Women’s Museum of California’s “Crafting Feminism: Textiles of the Women’s Movement” exhibit
- Women Makers Market where attendees can support women-owned businesses and artists
- A youth suffrage parade where kids of all ages learn the importance of voting and civic engagement and participate in a suffrage parade through the festival grounds, including 50 Girl Scouts
- Food trucks, including Dreams for Change
For more details and a full schedule of the Women’s Equality Day Festival, visit womensmuseumca.org/womensequality. Additional entertainment and activities will be added as the event nears.