Naturalistas, this one is for you. The annual CURLFEST 2023 has been announced and will bring together women from all walks of life to celebrate Black hair.
The festival will take place on July 15 at Randall’s Island under the theme Bounce Back, “a testament to resilience and commitment to creating safe spaces for our community to connect and build by way of art, music and more,” according to the festival’s website.
CURLFEST was conceived in 2010 when a group of Black women convened to create Curly Girl Collective. They began by hosting intimate events across New York and grew to become CURLFEST, the largest natural beauty festival on the planet.
The event planners say a large part of the festival is to address the pressures Black women face in a world where Eurocentric standards of beauty have caused conflict in beauty perceptions.
“Going natural,” they added, is an “act of defiance” and celebrates the limitless options to style hair in its natural form.
“It quickly became evident that the growing natural hair community needed an advocate to overcome the increasing challenges we were facing in American society,” according to a statement from CURLFEST’s website. “From elementary schools and team sports to the armed forces and corporate America, natural hairstyles had become a target of scrutiny like never before. We knew we were at a pivotal point, and that a bigger platform was needed to shift the conversation and show the world that beauty comes in a range of shades, shapes, and textures.”
Do yourself a favor and join this movement! Tickets are sold in tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum.
Silver tickets grant general admission and include access to CURLFEST’s Beauty Row, vendor marketplace, main stage, dance party, empowerment stage, festival merchandise shop, food and drinks for purchase from vendors across the diaspora.
Gold tickets grants general admission (see above) plus a gift bag with beauty products from sponsors to treat you and your hair.
Platinum tickets grants VIP admission, a gift bag with beauty products from sponsors plus all of the above.
Learn more about CURLFEST here and grab your tickets today!
