Atlanta, Georgia – Mary J. Blige and Pepsi proudly announce the second annual Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit in partnership with Live Nation Urban. The festival returns to the vibrant city of Atlanta, GA with four days devoted to music, comedy, female empowerment and community building between May 11th -14th, 2023, featuring stops in Atlanta at the award-winning State Farm Arena on Friday, May 12th and Saturday, May 13th. Presale tickets go live TODAY at NOON ET with code SOAW23, while general on-sale begins Friday, March 10th at 10AM ET. For tickets to the concert on Friday, May 12th, visit: www.soawfestival.com and Ticketmaster.com. For tickets to the concert on Saturday, May 13th, visit: www.soawfestival.com and Ticketmaster.com.
Created and curated by Grammy-award-winning R&B songstress Mary J. Blige, Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit is the only festival experience in the market brought to you exclusively by an all-Black, female team and will return this spring to the hotbed for creativity and culture, Atlanta, GA. After selling out in less than 72 hours last year, the festival continues to bring what are sure to be iconic moments back to the State Farm Arena with two incredible nights of music: the #HipHop50 celebration featuring rarely-performed hits by Mary J. Blige and friends in a special” MJB B-Sides” set; and a special R&B night with performances by the legendary Lauryn Hill, Summer Walker, Lucky Daye, Muni Long, and more.
This year’s festival is a clear “leveling-up” with an expanded footprint in the city and its programming, aiming to create even more opportunities for women and underrepresented groups to find community and joy. New to the festival this year is a special live music event with Grammy-Award winner Robert Glasper along with the Sunday night closing event–PURPOSE BALL, powered by Gilead, produced by Miss Lawrence and featuring a special performance from Saucy Santana. The PURPOSE BALL was created after connecting with friends and partners in the LGBTQAI community about how the festival could celebrate and honor their impact on popular culture—especially in Atlanta. After an extremely successful launch in 2022, and the overwhelming feedback from attendees, the female-led team is set to deliver bigger, better and more impactful programming for 2023 with support from returning and new partners this year including Mielle Organics, CVS Health, and Twitch.
Join Strength of a Woman in Atlanta on the following dates this spring:
Thursday, May 11th
- Robert Glasper at City Winery
Friday, May 12th
- Concert: Mary J. Blige & Friends with a special “MJB B-Sides” set celebrating Hip Hop 50th Celebration at State Farm Arena
- Special performances by Jodeci, Jeezy, DJ Drama, and more
- Hosted by Kenny Burns
Saturday, May 13th
- Strength of a Woman Summit at America’s Mart
- Participants and Programming details forthcoming
- Concert: R&B Night at State Farm Arena
- Performances by Lauryn Hill, Summer Walker, Muni Long, Lucky Daye, and Coco Jones
- Hosted by Kenny Burns
Sunday, May14th
- Gospel Brunch and Concert at The Bank
- Performance by Sunday Service Collective
- Hosted by Ryan Cameron
- The Purpose Ball at The Bank powered by Gilead
- Produced by Miss Lawrence
- Performance by Saucy Santana
- Comedy Night Show at Tabernacle
- Headliner: Mike Epps
- Additional Sets by Don’t Call me White Girl, Henry Welch and Navv Greene
- Hosted by Erica Duchess