Celebrating 19 years of music, speakers, sports, dancing and fun, CAMP Rehoboth’s 2019 Women’s FEST will be held April 11-14 in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
Growing larger every year, FEST, an event primarily geared toward lesbians, brings several hundred of mid-Atlantic women together for the best in national and regional entertainment and special events.
All-access FEST passes are sold out, but there are plenty of individual tickets remaining for the hefty schedule of events at camprehoboth.com. Along with the official FEST events, many of which are free, a number of Rehoboth restaurants and bars also will have women’s events and performers on stage.
The FEST is anchored by a Friday night double-header of headliners, singer/musician Ruthie Foster and the group BETTY. Foster performs with Olivia Travel, has done duets with Bonnie Raitt, played with the Allman Brothers, recorded six studio or live albums, has been Grammy- nominated and has won a slew of blues music awards.
BETTY, comprised of Alyson Palmer and sisters Amy and Elizabeth Ziff, is a group known for its vibrant harmonies, energy and pizazz, having provided the theme song and numerous appearances on the original “The L-Word” TV series.
The young singing/songwriting duo The Mouths of Babes takes the stage along with comic Karen Williams, who will give one performance only. Ty Greenstein and Ingrid Elizabeth, who make up Mouths of Babes, have more than a dozen albums and over a thousand shows between them and have toured with the Indigo Girls. As a new team, they have distilled the very best of their songwriting, musicianship and humor into a unique contemporary folk duo.
RUTHIE FOSTER (LEFT) AND KAREN WILLIAMS
As for Williams, she’s one of today’s hottest comedy stars, known for her quick repartee and sharp perspective. A comic craft master, she has a “healing with humor philosophy” that takes on hot topics and leaves audience members clutching their sides in laughter. She’s played nightclubs from Hollywood to P-Town, on Olivia cruises, on LOGO TV, and her peers call her “the comic’s comic.”
Presenting sponsor Olivia Travel makes much of this possible, along with a long roster of local and regional sponsors.
Alongside all of the entertainment choices, Women’s FEST presents special speakers with an eye on current events, lesbian history and more. The keynote speaker is Pamela Stewart, vice president of retail sales for Coca-Cola North America and board chair of the nonprofit GLAAD.
Blanche Wiesen Cook, noted historian and biographer, will take part in a dialogue with author Marcia Gallo to discuss First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Roosevelt’s long relationship with journalist Lenora Hickok.
Part of Women’s FEST in an all-day book fair April 12. Publishers Bold Strokes Books and Bywater Books, along with the Golden Crown Literary Society, are sponsoring readings, panels and book sales with a host of well-known authors. Scheduled to participate are popular and award-winning lesbian authors including Gallo, Roslyn Bane, Jackie D., Carol Anne Douglas, Cheryl Head, Ann McMan, B. Proud and Rachael Spangler. The book fair is free and open to all.
Added to the inspiring sessions will be young activist Mei-Ling Ho-Shing, a survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Ho-Shing, like many of her classmates, became an activist after the shooting. In the wake of the tragedy, Ho-Shing called for more than gun law reform alone, demanding an intersectional approach to the #NeverAgain movement.
FEST will also feature a Ladies 2000 dance party at the Convention Center on Saturday night.
On Sunday, the popular Broadwalk on the Boardwalk event will take place as a fundraiser to fight cancer. Part stroll-through-town and part meet-up on the boardwalk and the sand, it’s a sea of pink shirts, boas, hats and fun. Well-behaved pooches are welcome, along with everyone who wants to join in to remember loved ones, support survivors and raise funds to fight cancer.
FEST will also include a chance to enter a raffle to win a cruise for two donated by Olivia Travel. The trip, Gems of the Italian and French Riviera Luxury Cruise, has an estimated value of more than $11,000. The raffle tickets cost $20 each (six tickets for $100) and only 600 tickets will be sold for the Oct. 5-12 cruise.
Raffle tickets are on sale now at www.camprehoboth.com and will be sold throughout FEST. The winning ticket will be drawn April 14 at the Broadwalk on the Boardwalk. You need not be present to win.
For more information and tickets, visit camprehoboth.com.