The inaugural Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices festival will be held in October following a successful launch event at Ipswich’s the Pacitti Company.
The festival celebrating the centenary of women’s suffrage in Britain will take-over Suffolk University campus on Saturday, October 6.
This year will be the 100th anniversary of the act that granted some women the ability to vote for the first time in Britain and people from across Suffolk will be coming together at the festival to celebrate next month.
Amy Wragg, 36, is part of the committee which gathered a year before to decide on the best means to mark the anniversary and also compered the launch night.
She said: “It was only 100 years ago that women got the vote and not all women got the vote then either, that is not that long ago.
“Men and women fought for a long time for this to happen, it was a long process that went through several generations of women and I find that really humbling.
“We want to use this festival to highlight and provide women with an opportunity to have access to local politics and democracy, to encourage women to get involved and to encourage those who haven’t registered to vote to do so.”
The launch featured performances from music artists who will also be attending the October festival as well a preview of the various panels and acts that can be expected at the event.
One such performer was Ipswich’s own Angelle Joseph, 25, known as A.N.G, a rapper and spoken word poet.
She said: “After that launch I’m so excited for the day, the support from the people there was amazing, they all have great energy.
“I’ve been trying to empower women with my music and my artistry ever since I started back when I was 17, that’s what I’ve always written about.
“You can rap about money all you want, you’ve got some nice rhymes there but to rap about something that’s close to your heart that makes you vulnerable.”
Miss Joseph will MC Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices, introducing music and poetry acts which will feature a 100% female cast of poets, artists and lecturers as the community mark the special event which saw British women receive the vote for the first time.
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