E i l . l l ! r 30 Year§ of Revolution: The Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival BY HOLLY PRUETT A Editor’s note: Twenty and more years ago, Vermont was famous for its strong and active feminist lesbian community and for sending from 50 to 100 women to the Michigan Womynk Music Festival. (in the photo I have,'I counted about 63). There were controver- sies then as now, the most persist- ent of which is the festival is policy of admitting only “w0men-b0rn- women, " thus excluding transwomen. i ll they wanted was a good time. Thirty years ago, when a teen-aged Lisa Vogel and her friends organized the first Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, they didn’t realize they were launching one of the most enduring cultural institutions ‘of what was then still called the Women’s Liberation Movement. Now, three decades later, the Festival still delivers a good time — Tribe 8’s Lynee Breedlove calls Michigan “the best party on the planet.” It’s’ also a week of respite from a world still steeped in sexism. It’s a family reunion, ., even if you don’t yet knowanyone there.’ It’s a place of physical free- dom, of connection with the land, our bodies, and the fearless night sky. The artists featured in the 30th Anniversary line-up are as diverse- in generation, geography and genre as the audience. Producer Lisa Vogel calls this year’s program “a celebration of the history of the lesbian feminist movement and of women in music and the performing arts.” Three Decades of Music and Culture Icons of the 1970s — Holly Near, Ferron, Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull and Barbara Higbie, Mary Watkins, and Alive! — share this year’s stage with punk/pop phe- noms The Butchies, Le Tigre, and Tribe 8. Long-time festival favorites Indigo Girls, Betty, Toshi Reagon, and Ulali will get down with more recent sensations like Bitch, Paprika, and Animal Prufrock. Two of last year’s hottest newcomers return: East Coast rap duo God-Des and Canadian hip- hop rocker Ember_Swift. Headlining on the Night Stage for the first time is Gail Ann Dorsey, fresh off tours with David Bowie and Ani DiFranco. Michigan first- timers include Sistas in the Pit, a funk rock trio from San Francisco; Slanty Eyed Momma, political poetry with electric violin; and Yvette Narlock, a Canadian trou- badour who has toured with KD Lang. This year’s opening night offers a tribute to the power chords and throbbing bass lines that said “girl power” before the phrase was invented. “30 Years of Rock Chix Lix,” directed by Betty’s Alyson‘ Palmer, features performers from the entire week’s line-up paying homage to the mainstream music that has rocked women’s worlds: anthems by Pat Benatar, Blondie, Melissa Etheridge, Heart, Queen Latifah, and more. ‘ 7 And that’s just the music.’ Comics Elvira Kurt and Suzanne Westenhoefer, and performance pioneers the Dance Brigade return. From the “land down under” come not one but two irreverent musical comedy duos: New Zealand’s much-beloved Topp Twins, and festie-virgins Novak ’N Goode from Australia. Hanifah Walidah’s one-woman show “Black Folks Guide to Black Folks” explores sexuality, health, love, faith, and fear through an entire neighbor- hood of characters. In another one- woman tour de force, Julie Goldman’s “Third Party” will ignite the house with her timely . and righteous political rant. The Festival closes Sunday with traditions old and new. The morning showcases con- certscreated by festigoers in Ubaka Hill’s Drumsong Orchestra and Aleah Long’s One World Inspirational Choir. When night finally falls, Ruth Barrett closes the circle with the hushed rituals of the Candlelight Concert. In between, the aftemoon’s energy will fly through the air with the greatest of case, at the second annual Circus Fever! featuring the aerial and acrobatic arts of LAVA and Wise Fool New Mexico. An Experience to Call Your Own With a steady but ever-changing audience of 4,000-5000 women and children, the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival is more than a series of concerts. It is a highly-organized, self-sustaining community. Festiegoers meet women from around the world I through workshifts producing veg- etarian meals or making all the systems hum: child care, health care, transportation, recycling. "Time not spent at concerts or workshifts is passed in some of the hundreds of workshops, running the Lois Lane 5K, taking in the Film Festival or Crafts Bazaar, joining the Butch Strut or the Femme Parade, or simply wan- dering. Holly Near, who per- formed at the first Michigan 30 years ago, says, “The Festival now .is,..1i,1