Moab Women’s festival to shine spotlight on local business owners and artists

The inaugural Moab Women’s festival promises a unique celebration of women’s contributions to the local economy and art and cultural scene all packed into one day.

“Moab is a community full of amazing, powerful, driven, creative entrepreneurial women so what if we just have a full day of like women-focused stuff?” said Toni Sicola, one of the organizers of the event.

“We run tons of businesses, we have amazing musical talents, we have awesome artists, we have people doing creative business … all of these different things,” Sicola said.

“From a Woman,” organized by Sicola and co-organizer Teresa Herd, is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Sept. 14 at the Aarchway Inn. The event will take place in a grass area behind the hotel with a stage and playground that the hotel is donating for the day. Herd and Sicola hope to make it an annual event.

Woman-fronted music artists performing at the event will include The Butch Cassidies, Toni & the Enablers (Sicola’s band), Talia Keys and The Hattie Craven Band. The mix of artists incorporates a mix of genres – folk, rock, americana and soul, among others.

Women are still majorly underrepresented in the music industry, including in the music creation process and on the Billboard charts, according to several recent studies. Keys pointed to this, noting that many festivals mostly consist of cisgender men and sometimes she’s been the only woman on a lineup.

“Women’s festivals create environments that nurture women and marginalized genders,” Keys said. “… These types of festivals are so important everywhere you go but even more so in rural places. Our representation matters.”

Overall, the festival will include 15 to 20 vendors. That includes a variety of food and drink offerings from women-owned businesses, such as Stargazer Social Club, Baked by Rachel, and South Mountain Provisions. Local artists and artist businesses will showcase and sell their work like Abster Artz, Desert Sun Ceramics, Globe Mallow Studios, King Good Studio, The Medicine Basket and Only Remains.

“There’s tons of women-owned businesses in town that people just don’t know about,” Sicola said. “… We want to really shine a light on and get to know the women in our community who are doing all these amazing things and bolstering Moab’s economy in creative ways,”

Tickets are currently available for $15 presale and will increase to $25 on Sept. 1.

As part of the build up to the event, anyone can nominate a “TrailblazHER,” a woman who has significantly impacted Moab for the chance to be recognized during the festival for her contributions to the community. The organizers have also been highlighting different women on their social media ahead of the festival.

Beyond music performances the festival will feature activities that highlight women-led businesses and offer unique, interactive experiences.

“We’re planning a Navajo dance experience to kick off the day, a slackline demonstration … and possibly a yoga session,” Herd said.

Organizing the festival has been challenging at times for Sicola and Herd, but enthusiastic collaboration with each other and the broader community has made it easier. This is a value that rings true with Moab women, said Sicola, who has been involved in the wedding industry for several years and co-founded The Stargazer Social Club with her husband.

“A rising tide raises all boats,” Sicola said. “The kind of ethos that we want to bring to this event is promoting women-owned, women-run businesses where everyone can thrive …  there’s room for everybody and we can all help shine lights on each other.”

Sicola and Herd also said they want to make their festival super accessible to locals but hope outsiders enjoy it as well.

“Some of the festivals that come through here are magnificent, but they can get expensive — we wanted to make it accessible for vendors, for sponsors and locals and not price them out,” Herd said.

Sicola added that their goal for this first year is not to make money. Instead, they wanted artisans and vendors to actually make some money and keep ticket prices low.

“Our goal is to just put on something amazing and then as it grows over time, we can expand the ticket sales and … we can potentially get larger regional acts and get more grant funding and other types of funding to help make the event larger,” she said.

This year, the profits they make from the festival will go to Girls on the Run, a school program that focuses on girl’s empowerment, leadership, learning how to work together and develop discipline. In 2025, they will probably pick a different nonprofit.

Although they’re learning a lot the first time around, the organizers hope the festival will become a staple in the community’s event calendar over time.

“I think really it’s about giving credit to the past women who were fundamental in building and growing this community to the current women who are doing the same thing,” Herd said.