Column: Charlotte Butterick, Women's and Young People's Campaigner - Where are the women headliners?

​Last year’s incredible line up of world-renowned artists saw the town’s spirit truly come alive. This year is set to be arguably even bigger – with confirmed performances from legendary rock bands Queens of the Stone Age and War on Drugs to chart-topping singers George Ezra and Hozier. It’s an undeniably exciting summer ahead, and more widely it’s an important symbol of Halifax and the wider region’s growth in recent years – we’re a flourishing town with a proud identity. Like many locals, I feel proud of our town’s ability to compete with the UK’s biggest cities to draw in some of the world’s best artists. But why are they (nearly) all men? I’m not taking away from the undoubted positive impact the Piece Hall gigs have on Calderdale. But against such an exciting backdrop, I was disappointed (as I imagine so were lots of other young women) that out of the twenty confirmed headline acts so far, only two of them are women.

This isn’t an issue unique to the Piece Hall. The lineup for Glastonbury 2023 caused controversy earlier this year when all three headliners were confirmed to be male artists. It would be wrong to call out just the Piece Hall and Glastonbury for their lack of gender equality billing – it’s a theme spanning across music festivals and the UK’s music ecosystem more generally – women still face inequality, discrimination, (overt and discrete forms of) sexism, stereotyping and barriers at all levels of the music business. Last year, a BBC report found that only 13 per cent of UK headliners at the top 50 festivals in 2022 were female. Some artists are taking action themselves, such as all-male band, The 1975, who have written into their contract that they will only play festivals with gender-balanced lineups. But it’s important that these kinds of considerations are made by event organisers when designing prominent music events that inspire hundreds of music fans young and old.

I’m excited about this summer’s gigs in our town, but as a young woman I want to see the Piece Hall step up and do more in this space. As it gathers pace as a pioneering gig venue and boasts more impressive artists from across the world, the Piece Hall should also look to lead the way in setting important standards in areas such as gender equality.