Boston Calling Out for the Female and Queer

Boston Calling Music Festival’s 2023 Lineup

Boston is not particularly well-known for their music festivals, with the largest and most popular ones being located in places like Chicago, Austin, and California. This is not to discredit Boston, however, as this Memorial Day Weekend is the 10th anniversary of the Boston Calling Music Festival, and it’s going to be a hell of a good one.

The event debuted only a decade ago, in May of 2013, attracting thousands of music lovers. Five years later, the production moved to Allston and is now hosted once a year in the Harvard Athletic Complex. Many enjoy Boston Calling, declaring it as the perfect first music festival to go to and experience live performance, try great food and buy merch. And while this is certainly so, traditionally, the festival has been overwhelmingly white and cis, with not much variety in genre. In its inaugural year, 13 out of 19 Boston Calling acts were rock artists. 17 of them were white. The issue of diversity (or rather a lack thereof) has plagued and isolated the outdoor multi-stage festival from many audiences and identities. 

However, the Boston music scene has evolved since 2013, and therefore so have its festivals. When this year’s lineup came out, I was pleasantly surprised to see a group of both female-presenting and queer artists, an intersectional identity that simply does not get enough mainstream love. Some of these include alternative pop band The Aces, Zolita – known mostly for her unashamedly sapphic music videos, the TikTok queen FLETCHER, and Dominican rapper and singer, 070 Shake. Though none of them are headliners, I’m glad my city is giving these musicians that I know and love a platform to shine on.

I cannot even begin to properly articulate how euphoric it feels, as a queer woman in Boston, to see that there is a growing space for us here. We are taking big steps forward.

There are still tickets on sale, so grab them before they’re gone!

And, if you’re already planning on going, you can gear up for a fruity weekend’s setlist with my playlist.