LadyFest, the one-day festival that highlights women in music, is coming back to Oak Bluffs this fall, boasting a new location and a Grammy Award-winning headliner. 

After a one-year hiatus, the festival has moved from Circuit avenue to Alley Waban Park to accommodate its growing size. The Oct. 11 concert will have jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding, who has five Grammys, at the top of the bill. 

Festival co-founder Kelly Feirtag said the event is a chance to stand up to the patriarchy in the music industry and celebrate the artists who have had to endure it.

“We like to celebrate a night of female-fueled music,” she said. “We want to celebrate that there are multifacets to music, including female and non-binary folk that are just as talented and deserve a night of their own.”

Ms. Spalding’s most recent album, Milton + Esperanza, is a collaborative work with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento. Rose Guerin, an event co-founder, said that Ms. Spalding is a talented artist who reflects the Island’s diversity. 

“We feel like it’s really key for us to show all the multifaceted, beautiful parts of the Island, including the people of the Wampanoag tribe, the women of color,” she said.

Artists with Island-ties will also take the stage, including Ms. Guerin, Nanauwe, a Wampanoag musician, Dana Williams and the duo Dwight + Nicole.

The new location reflects the growth of LadyFest, according to the organizers. The festival began as a small concert inside the Ritz in 2017. Since then, it expanded to take over Circuit avenue, but took a year off in 2024 to regroup for a larger event this year. 

“It just kept growing and growing,” Ms. Feirtag said. “Rosie and I are still, to this day, surprised when people come to us and say they want to help and be involved in it…We’re so honored.”

In Alley Waban Park, there will be vendors and even a mini version of the Ritz set up. Though the event has been free in the past, the organizers decided to make this year’s festival a ticketed event to cover costs.  

In addition to highlighting women in music, the festival will raise money for CONNECT to End Violence, the Island’s sexual and domestic violence resource center through Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. LadyFest will continue to take donations for the organization and to help pay for the event.

“When everything feels so out of control with what’s going on in the world, this is the one thing that I feel like I can do,” Ms. Guerin said. “You have to make changes on a small scale in your town.”

LadyFest will take place on Oct. 11 For more information and tickets, visit ladyfestmv.com.