Mary J. Blige has teamed up with Pepsi for the inaugural “Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit,” which is being held during Mother’s Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
The festival will feature three days of immersive programming to help elevate, entertain, and educate women in the Atlanta area and beyond.
Several prominent female performers, including Mary J. Blige (who also serves as the event’s cohost), Chaka Khan, Ella Mai, and others, will perform.
Pepsi has also recruited cutting-edge Web3 female artists to provide attendees with collectible custom NFTs.
Rachel Winter (Remarkable Women NFT collection), Shaylin Wallace (digital and graphic designer specializing in surreal art), Amber Vittoria (It’s Because You’re Pretty NFT collection) and Varvara Alay (Flower Girls NFT collection), will all be curating the unique NFTs exclusively for Summit attendees.
The NFTs will be rolled out under the guise of Proof of Attendance Protocols (POAPs), but they are, in fact, genuine pieces of art that celebrate the partnership with the “Strength of a Woman” Festival and unapologetic love for music.
The tokens will be available on Saturday, May 7, via digital kiosks from 11 am – to 6 pm.
The Pepsi Music Lab to the Summit will host an interactive panel moderated by Rachel Jackson, Artist Relations Manager at YouTube Music. Notable Black female talent managers, Claudine Joseph (LL Cool J), Nicole Jackson (MJB), and Ebonie Ward (Future, Gunna) will discuss how to navigate the music industry successfully.
“This weekend is so important because it is so much more than a concert. There are panels, classes, food events and more, aimed specifically at highlighting and supporting trailblazing BIPOC women in the greater Atlanta community,” said Ashaunna Ayars, festival partner and Founder of The Ayars Agency. “With Pepsi as a co-presenter, we’ve been able to utilize their massive scale to make this beyond anything we could have imagined when we first came up with this idea. It’s a true celebration of the strength of a woman and how that comes to life every day in music, food, culture, art, finance and much more.”
And of course, there will be food.
“Our mission with Pepsi Dig In remains laser focused on resourcing and championing Black-owned restaurants and chefs,” says Alexis Porter, Senior Director, Brand Building, PepsiCo Foodservice. “We are excited to partner with Mary J. Blige and the Strength of a Woman Festival to launch our new Restaurant Royalty program and ultimately, to amplify the voices of innovative Black women in the culinary industry.”
