Metal Female Voices Fest on ‘hold’
Some sad news were published today: There won’t be a Metal Female Voices Fest in 2017 – and it’s not sure that there will be ever a 14th edition.
Hopes were high.
Earlier this month – ten days ago – there was this post on the official facebook page:
Of course, many, many people wanted a MFVF in 2017! So it seemed the team behind the festival was working hard on the next edition and we were looking forward to it, thinking about hotel rooms, band merch, outfits and stuff. Some days later, Val, the queen of MFVF, posted on her private Facebook page that she has to make an announcement that might make some of us sad. Rumors began, people started to wonder if she will cancel the whole festival. So it wasn’t a big surprise when the announcement finally came.
An event we are all going to miss.
This magazine is strongly connected to Metal Female Voices Fest! As some of you might know, we launched in 2013 during the festival. But it’s more than that! We had the idea for this magazine at the festival, because we thought there should be a magazine to support the scene that meets at Metal Female Voices Fest. And for all the other people out there who love not just female fronted metal but is also interested in other ‘girly stuff! like beauty, fashion, lifestyle, …
Kiki and I had our first MFVF together in 2011 when we thought we could sleep in my car in the parking lot – a really bad idea because it was so f***ing cold that year! We were freezing our asses off, but most of all, we had a really great time! Drinking vodka in the car to keep warm, running around at the VIP area talking to a lot of bands, standing outside smoking (I remember my bad voice on the last day and the pain in my throat…) and of course talking a lot about everything. We didn’t know each other well back then (we had met in June 2011), but after that festival, we did – alcohol makes you tell your secrets, but none of us regrets that.
One year later, we had already gone to Rockharz together for another online magazine with video interviews and live reports. So we decided to do that again at MFVF for that magazine, with great success. It wasn’t common for a magazine back then to do video interviews, so we were pretty innovative, if I may say so myself! It was the year when Anette Olzon was kicked out of NIGHTWISH and the whole scene was wondering who will be the next singer! So we asked around:
Eve’s Apple was at its climax that year with a big show on Friday. We slept in Brussel that year, traveling to the venue by shuttle bus. And we had a lot of fun! I remember us sitting in the train to the bus, dizzy, nearly missing our stop. At that time, plans for Metal & High Heels were getting concrete, because our ideas weren’t received that well at our former magazine. We realized that we wanted it so much that we just had to found this magazine on our own. After a lot of planning, working and designing, we launched in 2013 with (fun fact!) an interview with Floor Jansen who was not announced as the new NIGHTWISH singer yet, but a few days after the interview.
Of course, Kiki is wearing high heels in this interview!
One year later, we had a kind of routine and an AirBnB, which we have visited since 2013 in Aalst – allowing us to stay for the after party at the hotel! But then the first shock came when it was announced that there would be no MFVF in 2015, but it would only skip a year. So in 2016, we had a great time again in Belgium. Even though the festival seemed to become less visited, there were those special people around that you need to feel good! Both, Kiki and I noticed we had kind of grown up… less alcohol, different cpnversation topics, but still a lot of fun and a great time.
So MFVF is also kind of a metaphor for the friendship between Kiki and me. We got to know each other there for real, made a lot of plans there, met awesome people, who became good friends and watched each other grow up over the years. Great memories are linked to MFVF – some of my best memories when it comes to hard work, which makes you happy.
In the end, I’m very happy and thankful that we had this festival for 13 editions and I am very sure I’ll meet most of the people I met there again somewhere else. I wish all the best for Val, totally accepting her decision and hoping she feels relieved now. To be honest, I don’t expect a MFVF 14, but if there would be one, I would attend, no matter what!