Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill Announced for 2nd Annual "Strength of a Woman" Festival

Mary J. Blige has announced the second annual Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit will be taking place from May 11th-14th, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. For four days, the festival will be devoted to music, comedy, female empowerment, and community building. The festival itself is curated by Grammy-award-winning R&B songstress Mary J. Blige, and it is the only festival experience in the market that is brought to fans exclusively by an all-Black female team. In a press release, Blige stated the following:

“I’m so excited to bring our Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit back to Atlanta for its second year. Having the opportunity to continue to uplift, inspire, and build amongst a community of women is the reason why we created this festival. I’m so grateful for all of the support from our performers and participants and of course Live Nation Urban, Pepsi, and our additional partners who are committed to celebrating and creating community for Black women.”

The festival will include not only performances, but comedy sets, workshops, and speaking engagements. In regards to the importance and success of last year’s inaugural edition of the festival, Nicole Jackson - the Vice President of MJB Inc., stated the following:

“The popularity and impact of the inaugural Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit successfully showed how and why Black women are the blueprint for cultural relevancy and inclusion. Being able to look back and see the global reach the festival had through our livestream and billions of media impressions in confirmation that we are filling a void in the festival space. Mary, Ashaunna (Ayars, of The Ayars Agency) and myself are overjoyed to be back in Atlanta again and look forward to continue expansion in our programming and partnerships.”

Tickets are on sale now, and you can view the full lineup below.

Thursday, May 11th

• Robert Glasper at City Winery

Friday, May 12th

• Concert: Mary J. Blige & Friends with a special “MJB B-Sides” set celebrating Hip Hop 50th Celebration at State Farm Arena 

  • Special performances by Jodeci, Jeezy, DJ Drama, and more

  • Hosted by Kenny Burns

Saturday, May 13th

• Strength of a Woman Summit at America’s Mart 

  • Participants and Programming details forthcoming

• Concert: R&B Night at State Farm Arena 

  • Performances by Lauryn Hill, Summer Walker, Muni Long, Lucky Daye, and Coco Jones 

  • Hosted by Kenny Burns

Sunday, May 14th 

• Gospel Brunch and Concert at The Bank

  • Performance by Sunday Service Collective

  • Hosted by Ryan Cameron

• The Purpose Ball at The Bank powered by Gilead

  • Produced by Miss Lawrence

  • Performance by Saucy Santana

• Comedy Night Show at Tabernacle

  • Headliner:  Mike Epps

  • Additional Sets by Don’t Call Me White Girl, Henry Welch, and Navv Greene

  • Hosted by Erica Duchess

Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit
www.soawfestival.com