Mary J. Blige is returning for a second “Strength of a Woman” festival in Atlanta in May at State Farm Arena.
The four-day festival targeting Black women and sponsored by Pepsi will feature two nights of concerts featuring acts such as Lauryn Hill, Summer Walker, Jodeci, Busta Rhymes, Jeezy, Method Man and Jadakiss.
Two of those days will be at State Farm Arena on Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13. Presale tickets go on sale at noon Wednesday, May 8, with the code SOAW23 at Ticketmaster, while general on-sale tickets hit the market Friday, March 10, at 10 a.m.
Tickets sold out within three days last year, a press release said. Pricing has not been released yet.
Outside of State Farm Arena, there will be other events around town. Robert Glasper is performing at City Winery on Thursday, May 11. There is a summit at AmericasMart on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a gospel brunch at The Bank hosted by Ryan Cameron and a new Sunday night closing event at the same location called “Purpose Ball,” produced by Miss Lawrence and featuring a special performance from Saucy Santana to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Mike Epps will host a comedy night at the Tabernacle Sunday as well.
The entire organizing team for this group is women including Nicole Jackson, vice president of MJB Inc., and Ashaunna Ayars of The Ayars Agency.
The purpose of the festival, Blige said, is to provide music, wellness, tech, beauty and financial literary to women. The organizers said they chose to return to Atlanta because of its reputation as a mecca for young Black creatives and entrepreneurs and how well the festival was received in 2022.
“I’m so excited to bring our Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit back to Atlanta for its second year, " said Blige in a press release. “Having the opportunity to continue to uplift, inspire, and build amongst a community of women is the reason why we created this festival.”
Last year’s inaugural festival included Chaka Khan, Xscape, City Girls, Queen Naija, Dionne Farris, Baby Tate and Omeretta the Great
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