WAM! Festival
(Women and Music)
Mount Holyoke College: April 29, 2006

Back by Popular Demand!

Background:

The WAM! Festival is the Pioneer Valley's only women's music festival. The event is presented by Mad Mission Music with the support of local business sponsors and individuals.

The WAM! Festival is an all-day event, hosting local and national talent. The Festival strives to represent a wide variety of musical styles including folk, rock, jazz and blues. This celebration combines music on two stages, food vendors, and female craftswomen and artisans. The Festival consists of a main stage located in Mount Holyoke's beautiful Chapin Hall, which accommodates approximately 1,600 and an outdoor coffeehouse stage featuring local performers.

Past performers have included Patty Griffin, Catie Curtis, Antigone Rising, Melissa Ferrick, Toshi Reagon, Erin McKeown, Jill Sobule, Erica Wheeler, Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Alix Olson and host of other talent. WAM! is planning another stellar line-up for 2006!

Attendance: The WAM! Festival grew from approximately 1,400 patrons in its first year to 2,500 in its second year

Ages/Gender: The Festival crowd was as diverse as the music presented. 55% of the patrons were in the age group of 18-29. 30% were between 30 and 44. 15% were over 45. 70% of attendees were female and 30% were male.

Our extensive marketing campaign consists of:

• A minimum of 1,500 full-color posters circulated in the Pioneer Valley with additional posters in Boston, MA, New York City, Albany, NY Brattleboro, VT and Hartford, CT
• Display advertisements in the Valley Advocate (circulation 65,000 ); the Daily Hampshire Gazette, (circulation 22,000); the Women's Times (circulation 20,000);
• Radio promotion on WRSI, WFCR, WMHC (Mount Holyoke College's radio station), and WUMB, Folk Boston
• A series of press releases to key regional and national media. Advance interviews and features in local papers and radio stations.
• 1,600 Festival Program Books distributed on site

WAM! SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

If you are interested in being the sole sponsor of the WAM! Festival, the opportunity is available and we would love to speak with you.

Mad Mission Music · 2 Wing Hill Rd, Williamsburg, MA 01096
Tel: (413) 268-3398 Email: lori@madmissionmusic.com

Pssssssst..............

"[WAM!] is an inspirational celebration of music, by an exciting blend of female performers."
Worcester Magazine, April 25, 2001

"Peters has put together a solid team that has created what looks to become a local tradition. With a boatload of sponsors and a talent-heavy lineup, the first WAM! Festival feels like a winner."
Springfield Union News, April 26, 2001

"Female fans, artists, revel in music"
Sunday Republican, April 29, 2001

"WAM! Music Festival ignites the Valley"
The Women's Times, April 2001

In Smooth Start, "WAM" Fest Unites Disparate Fans--Stylistically, "diversity" was the word of the day at Saturday's WAM! (Women and Music) Festival at Mount Holyoke College. The debut festival's two stages boasted 20 different acts, for whom the only common thread was the fact that performers were all female. The audience, likewise, didn't seem to fit a single mold. The crowds consisted of college students, middle-aged couples and families with young children. The vendors' tables and second stage, which were free and open to the public, attracted passing Mount Holyoke students and led many to purchase tickets to the mainstage as well. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the WAM! Festival was the fact that it ran so smoothly. It's almost unheard of for festivals to stick so close to their schedules.
Daily Hampshire Gazette, May 3, 2001