2026 really is the year of the LOUD WOMEN.
Yesterday, Olivia Rodrigo announced the first artists for her new Daisy Chain Fields festival in California, and the lineup is enough to make any music fan do a double take. Bikini Kill, Chappell Roan, The Breeders, Garbage, Stevie Nicks, Doechii, The Linda Lindas and more will all appear at the festival on 29 August.
It’s a remarkable snapshot of where women in music are right now: established icons sharing space with newer artists who are redefining what success looks like for the next generation.
Meanwhile, back in the UK, our friend Lauren Estelle Jones has announced God Save The Queens, a historic celebration marking 50 years of she-punk. Taking place in Londonon 16 October, the event features LOUD WOMEN favourites Big Joanie alongside Essential Logic, Gina Birch and HotWax, bringing together artists whose influence can still be heard across punk and alternative music today.
What strikes me about these announcements is that they’re not simply celebrating women who are making music right now. They’re celebrating the entire lineage. The pioneers who kicked down doors. The artists carrying that legacy forward. And the musicians who are only just picking up their first instruments.
Here at LOUD WOMEN, we’re proud to be part of that story. We’ve already announced lineups for Bristol, Dublin and our biggest event of the year, LOUD WOMEN Fest London. Before that, we’ll be back at Rebellion Festival, where the LOUD WOMEN stage continues to introduce thousands of punk fans to artists from around the world. We’re also putting the finishing touches to festivals in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Colorado, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
From California to Blackpool, from London to Tokyo, women and non-binary musicians are creating some of the most exciting music being made anywhere right now. More importantly, they’re creating spaces where the next generation can see themselves reflected.
Somewhere this year, a teenage girl is going to discover Bikini Kill for the first time. Somewhere else, someone will see Big Joanie and decide to start a band. Someone will walk into their first LOUD WOMEN show and realise that music isn’t something other people do. They belong here too.
They can be in the crowd. They can be on the stage. They can be behind the mixing desk, behind the camera, running festivals, booking bands and making things happen.
For so long, women in music were treated as exceptions. Now we’re seeing generation after generation proving that we belong everywhere.
The future of music is being written right now. And women are holding the pen.
