What Had Happened Was...
The impetus for this festival was a warm October Sunday, where Artistic Director, Tanya Birl attended a pop-up concert in the gardens of the Ft. Washington Collegiate Church Gardens. Her husband was playing in the band with Annette Aguilar and String Beans. The consequence being the realization of the lack of community-centered events held Uptown post pandemic and the need for community spaces to not only gather but to lament and experience being human together. In rolling out what was then a smaller-scale version of what would eventually become the Washington Heights Womanist Arts Festival, she noticed the desire for more block party styled events as people were stepping out from their bodegas, local shops and businesses and homes to join together around music.
Inspiration struck! Pop-up concert at FWCC, Fall 2021
The Inaugural Washington Heights Womanist Festival, Fall 2022
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
In September 2022, we successfully kicked off our inaugural festival event with a full day of music by local artists such as the Overlook Quartet, Yasser Tejeda, Annette Aguilar and String Beans, The Soapbox Presents and Caridad de la Luz. Hosted at the historic Fort Washington Collegiate Church in their beautiful gardens, children were welcome to create art and play, while bilingual yoga and zumba, led by Judi Checo and Guillermo Ruiz respectively, were taking place in the center of it all. Other partners included the Inwood Public Library who directed crafts alongside The Family List, painter and community organizer Andrea Marie and cartoonist Julia Marz, as well as a book stand featuring Womanist themed texts curated by WordUp Community Bookstore. With an attendance of over 400 people, this was a site of rest, joy and celebration through a deeply trying time.
By Festival Intern, photographer and creative contributor Julissa Nuñez