Festival Information

For more information, browse this site or send an e-mail to nwmf.info@gmail.com.

The National Women’s Music Festival is a four-day musical and cultural extravaganza that incorporates all facets of women’s lives. It’s a jam-packed long weekend where choices for things to do range from workshops, concerts, comedy, theatre presentations, a marketplace, newly released films and videos, a live auction, and much, much more!

Attendees come from all genders and cultures, cutting across ethnic, racial, sexual, age, and ability boundaries. Likewise, Festival programming reflects many points of view; a diversity of ideas and topics are explored and discussed in a safe environment. Festival is an environment in which philosophies and politics are open for discussion, not mandated or judged.

Mainstage concerts are routinely interpreted for the deaf. Interpreter services can be provided for workshops and other Festival events upon request. Volunteer opportunities and work-exchange of four-hour work-shifts is available for reduced-price registration. This is limited and arrangements must be made prior to the Festival.

Past performers include Cris Williamson, Kate Clinton, Karen Williams, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Linda Tillery, Jamie Anderson, Holly Near, the Dance Brigade, Melissa Ferrick, Sawagi Taiko, Ferron, Ellis, Ember Swift, Betty, and Margie Adam to just mention a few. Guest speakers have included Geraldine Ferraro, Rita Mae Brown, Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, NPR reporter and writer Margot Adler, Katherine V. Forrest, artist Judy Chicago, Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, Pat Califia, Betty DeGeneres, Anita Hill and Judy Goldsmith.

Food

The food is not included in the hotel or ticket prices.
If you are wearing a festival wristband, you are eligible for the Marriott breakfast buffet in the Atrium at the price of $9.50. If you paid for a room that includes breakfast for two, you will receive breakfast tickets when you check-in at the hotel front desk. The Atrium is reserved for Festival attendees to meet and share meals, including lunch and dinner. And, of course, networking! You can purchase your meal elsewhere and enjoy it in the Atrium.

For lunch, we will have a “grab and go” station set-up with salads, sandwiches, and snacks.

Within a block or two, there are numerous restaurants such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Culver’s, Café Zupas, Five Guys, Noodles and Company, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Sofra Family Bistro, 1847 at the Stamm House, Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, Compadres | Mexican Restaurant, Craftsman Table & Tap, Louisianne’s Etc., The Roman Candle, Monk’s Bar & Grill, Lupe’s Taqueria, My Sister’s Kitchen, Ancho and Agave, Hubbard Avenue Diner (great pies and breakfasts)

Click on Visit Middleton for more information about the Middleton area.

Deaf & HoH Women

We will be providing Sign Language interpreters for all stages. We will try to meet all other requests for interpreting workshops and other programming. Please email us at access.nwmf23@gmail.com with your request.

Your advance requests will ensure that we have enough interpreters to fill every request. You may also sign up on site in the registration area where there will be a box for requesting interpreter services.

Media with closed captioning or subtitles will be identified in the program and posted in the registration area.

Accessibility

Please contact our Accessibility Coordinator at access.nwmf23@gmail.com with your questions about accessibility at the festival. Let her know what accessibility needs you anticipate. Our goal is an amazing festival experience for everyone.

Respite chairs are provided in long hallways between the hotel and conference center. Some women may choose to rent scooters to cover these long distances.

Scooter Mobility Rentals – If you need a scooter while attending the festival, please click on this link: https://buitmobility.com/rentals/ and complete rental form. Buit Mobility will deliver the scooter to the hotel for your use during the festival.

A scooter parking area will be provided in the evening concert hall and scooter users otherwise should avoid blocking pedestrian traffic where they park. Individually reserved concert seating may be requested by women who remain in their scooters or wheelchairs, use bulky medical equipment, or travel with service dogs.

Blind and visually impaired women may request volunteer assistance as needed for getting around. Advance requests are preferred to ensure volunteer availability.

Many people today have developed chemical sensitivities. Please respect that the air is a common resource and chemicals can make some sick. Use unscented and safer personal care products and do not use perfumes and essential oils while in the hotel and conference area. If you are a person with chemical sensitivity, please use gentle communication techniques to work together to solve problems.

Child Care

While we do not currently offer a formal child care program, NWMF welcomes and encourages attendees of all ages. We will attempt to provide some workshops and programming of interest to our younger attendees as well as to provide information to parents on the appropriateness of performances for younger children. Parents should be aware that they will be responsible for supervising their children at all times during the festival. For children new to the festival environment, we encourage parents to discuss expected behaviors (e.g. walking in halls, quiet voices during concerts, etc.) prior to each new activity and experience. If you are interested in contacting other parents prior to the festival, contact Mary at nwmfhouse@gmail.com

Pet Policy

We want the National Women’s Music Festival to be a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. When bringing your pet to the festival please remember that not everyone is a pet lover. Some people have a fear of dogs. If you have a service animal, we expect it to behave as a service animal. Please help us make the festival a safe place for everyone.

If you are staying at the Marriott Madison West Hotel or bringing your pet to the festival, here are a few simple rules to follow.
1.      Check in with Pet Coordinator to register your pet. Service animals must also register.
2.      We will take a photo of you and your pet or service animal.
3.      We will give you a special tag for your hotel door, so that hotel personnel knows that you have a pet in your room. This will let the housekeeping staff know if it is safe to come in. There will be two sides to the door tag.
a. Safe to come in, my pet is in their kennel or no pet in my room.
b. Pet is loose in the room, no housekeeping needed at this time.
4.      If your pet troubles other festival attendees you will be asked to keep your pet in your room. Unless, of course, your pet is a service animal.
5.      If your pet is continuously barking or making loud noises in your hotel room, you will need to find another accommodation for your pet.
6.      While attending a festival event (workshop or concert) if your pet barks more than once it will need to be removed.
7. Pet owners must be able to maintain control over their pets at all times.
8. Pets shall be restrained (cats and dogs must be leashed) when outside the owner’s room
9. Pet owners shall be liable for any damage caused by their pets.
10. Pet owners must immediately remove, clean up and appropriately dispose of any pet feces, waste and litter on common grounds, shrubs, flower beds, sidewalks, access ways, parking lots and streets.
11. Cats and dogs must wear an identification collar at all times.
12. A pet will not be permitted to disturb the health, safety, rights, comfort or peaceful and quiet enjoyment of other attendees.

~ Try not to leave your pet unattended in your room for long periods, and never overnight.
~ Registration includes a door hanger to let the hotel staff know when your pet is in the room.
~ The ADA defines a service animal as a dog that is “individually trained” to “perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.” The tasks a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
~ A “helper monkey” or a cat cannot be considered a service animal under the ADA; the ADA limits the definition of service animals to dogs. In some limited circumstances, the ADA provides that public places should also accommodate persons with disabilities who use miniature horses to perform tasks.

Room of Remembrance

This room is set aside as a place where we can gather to remember and honor the lives of those we have lost, and a place to support us in our grief and healing. The room is what we make of it. It provides a space that is a bit quieter than the rest of the Festival, where you can be alone with your memories or share them with others. Materials are provided for journaling and creating art. The room also provides a space for workshops and gatherings. In the past, workshops have included grief support groups, as well as time to share memories of specific people. Photos of our loved ones who have passed on — our artists, our lovers, our friends, and family – are shown on a continuous loop.

Please help to make the Room of Remembrance a space that meets your needs, by doing any of the following:

Send a digital photograph and a few words about your loved one to NWMFRemembrance@gmail.com, to have it included in the video. Typically, descriptions include the person’s name, a few words or phrases about who she was in her life (relationships, job, community engagement), dates of birth and death, and (if you want) the cause of death.
Submit an application to conduct a workshop, either in remembrance of a specific person or to address grief, healing, or other related issues.
Send your other suggestions or requests of how the Room of Remembrance can help support you in your times of grief and healing to NWMFRemembrance@gmail.com

Program Advertising

Interested in advertising in our 2024 on-site and virtual NWMF Program? E-mail us
at nwmf.info@gmail.com. Ads will be accepted until 5/15/24. We accept VISA/Mastercard/ check.

Ad pricing:

Outside – Back Cover (color only) = $650.00

Inside – Back Cover (Color/B&W) = $600.00/$550.00

Full Page 10.5” x 7.5” = $400.00

Half Page 10.5” x 3.75” = $250.00

Quarter Page 4.75” x 3.75” = $150.00

Business Card 2” x 3.5” = $100.00