Music festival to tackle ‘gender play gap’ with stage for rising female stars

The organisers of a major summer music festival have said they will address the “gender play gap” with the introduction of a stage for up-and-coming female acts.

The Queen Tut’s Stage at TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow will help pave the way for a new generation of women headliners, DF Concerts said.

Artists including Lauren Spiteri, Zoe Graham and The Eves will perform over three days in July.

Representatives from Scottish Women Inventing Music (SWIM) will also be onsite at Glasgow Green to highlight their work in achieving a level playing field for women in the industry.

Acts already announced for the festival on July 12-14 include Stormzy, Jess Glynne, George Ezra, Sigrid, Richard Ashcroft and Snow Patrol.

TRNSMT is in its third year after taking over from T in the Park as Scotland’s major summer music event.

Aarti Joshi from DF Concerts said: “As a company, we are committed to helping to close the gender play gap and at TRNSMT specifically, we have focused on providing a platform for core female acts at a grass roots level to help them become the bill-toppers of the future.

“Of course, as an industry, we have a long way to go but we feel this is a real step in the right direction.”

SWIM founder Hilary Brooks said: “I’m delighted that DF Concerts have invited us this year to promote, celebrate and support women artists at TRNSMT, and to fuel the discussion of creating a more equal and collaborative industry.”

The announcement follows the success of the Queen Tut’s event in March when renowned Glasgow music venue King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut was renamed in celebration of International Women’s Day.