{"id":5584,"date":"2016-03-22T08:15:27","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T00:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/women-take-centre-stage-at-athena-festival\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:07:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:07:35","slug":"women-take-centre-stage-at-athena-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/women-take-centre-stage-at-athena-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Women take centre stage at Athena Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
Straight off the back of International Women\u2019s Day \u2013\u00a010 March\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the Curtin-hosted Athena Festival celebrated women in music, showcasing some of Australia\u2019s most talented musicians.<\/p>\n
Orchestrated by the Curtin Student Guild, Athena featured well-known artists Asta, Abbe May, Tired Lion, Nicole Millar, Bad Ezzy and up-and-coming outfit, Mosquito Coast. DJs from the Curtin Electronic Music Appreciation Society (EMAS)<\/a> also supported these headliners on the festival stage and into its after party.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [the Athena festival initiative] is fantastic, absolutely fantastic,\u201d says Curtin student, Alicia Drew. \u201cWe\u2019d heard of the bands, and thought we\u2019d go down to be part of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n Athena\u2019s headline act, Asta, shared with us how other female artists had influenced her work.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started listening to Adele I starting writing a lot on guitar, and that was really inspiring,\u201d Asta says. \u201cThen I discovered Annie Lennox, Madonna, Whitney Houston \u2013 lots of 80s artists really inspired me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are moments where I do pinch myself,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s just a constant pinch. It\u2019s just a constant feeling of \u2018is this real?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n With the Athena Festival done and dusted, Australia can now add itself to the list of countries, along with the United States, United Kingdom and China, which have hosted female-led festivals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty cool to have an all-female line up, especially after International Women\u2019s Day,\u201d says Athena festivalgoer, Mandy Humphreys.<\/p>\n \u201cIt tied with women\u2019s week and was supported by Triple J,\u201d says fellow festival attendee, Steve Myers. \u201cAnd they\u2019re some great bands, so I thought I\u2019d go along.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"IMG_3356[2]\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_335621-560x420.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"IMG_3480[2]\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_34802-560x420.jpg\")