About Girls to the Front

Girls to the Front is a grassroots alternative rock music festival in Western Canada created to put female, non-binary, and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists at the front of the stage. Rooted in the Okanagan and now expanding to Vancouver, the festival centres loud, challenging music and the communities that have too often been pushed to the margins of it.

Why It Exists

Rock music has long been shaped by narrow perspectives. Female, non-binary, and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists continue to face barriers to booking, visibility, and opportunity, while many music spaces still feel unwelcoming or unsafe.

Girls to the Front exists to challenge that reality by intentionally centring artists and audiences who are often overlooked. Seeing yourself reflected on stage matters. It creates belonging, confidence, and the possibility of imagining yourself there too.

Our Story

Girls to the Front began with a conversation in a grimy bathroom after a Down The Lees show. Co-founders Laura Schultz and Madeline Fraser crossed paths for the first time in person and began talking openly about internalized bias, ageism, and the lack of space for women in rock music. That moment of reflection turned into action.