"Powerful women . . . challenging, honest and beautiful songs and poems . .. laughter and tears in equal measure . . . don't miss the next Ironweed Festival," says Candie Carawan of the Highlander Center

The Appalachian Women's Alliance is holding its third annual Ironweed Festival, Saturday, September 11, 1999, from 11 am to 11 pm at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, West Virginia. The Festival celebrates the artistic talent, regional leadership and courageous lives of Appalachian women through music, storytelling, poetry, dance, and visual arts.

"First time I came to the Ironweed Festival, I thought I'd watch the stage awhile, then wander around; but I couldn't pull myself away from what was happening on the stage. This festival is unique and wonderful," says West Virginia singer/songwriter Kate Long. Along with Kate, performers for this year's Festival include Reel World String Band, Kathy Jackson, Rema Keen, Wishing Chair, Brenda Saylor, Elaine Blue, Jude Binder, Carla Gover and Sister Drum. Women's organizations from around the region will be on hand to talk about their work. Admission is $8.00 per person or $15.00 a carload.

Everyone is welcome!

The Festival is organized by the Appalachian Women's Alliance, a grassroots network working in six states on issues of violence against women, racism, and economic justice. Strategies include leadership development; organizing; publication of the Appalachian Women's Journal, a periodical which enables Appalachian women to speak eloquently and strongly of their own lives; and the Women's Caravan, which will be traveling through Appalachia again in the summer of 2000.

The Festival reflects the determination of the Appalachian Women's Alliance to become as widespread as the ironweed, a tough purple wildflower which inspired the festival's name.

For more information, contact:

Meredith Dean, Coordinator, Appalachian Women's Alliance, P.O. Box 688, Floyd, Virginia 24091, Phone/FAX: (540) 745-5345

 "When I was on the river, I heard the strange babble of inhuman voices--"