UNIFY Festival Addresses ‘Gender Imbalance’ Criticism

UNIFY Festival dropped a massive line-up earlier this week, and with Alexisonfire, Violent Soho and Northlane named as headliners and the rest of the bill following a similar fashion, it didn’t take long for punters to comment on a lack of females on the bill.

The first artist announcement featured 26 bands, and of those only Melbourne outfit Drown This City and WA post-hardcore act Saviour have female members.

UNIFY have taken to social media to address the issue, commenting on how important gender equality is to them.

“While our line-up is male heavy, behind the scenes of the festival is a team made up of over 50% females that work hard to bring this event to you all, including directing and overseeing the festival,” the post said.

“Gender equality is a serious and important issue that absolutely needs to be discussed and brought to everyone’s attention.

“We’ve always taken this issue very seriously at Unify and from the very first event the safety and comfort of our patrons has been paramount.”

The promoters also called out those making “negative comments” surrounding the issue.

“We also want to make it absolutely clear that we do not tolerate or condone sexism, racism, bullying or any forms of intimidation in our community and further, we do not condone the people making such comments.

“Ultimately, we want you to know that we are listening, we are discussing and this issue is very important to us all, as a festival and as individuals.”

Victorian boutique festival Strawberry Fields had a similar situation when their latest artist announcement dropped last week to reveal an all-male line-up, which saw them take to Facebook to justify their decision earlier this week.

UNIFY goes down 13-15 January in Gippsland, which is the first time it will be held over two days.

Tickets are on sale now and you can find all other details via the festival’s website.