We Make Noise Fest carves out a space for women and queer musicians

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When Naomi Westwater was approached to restart the Boston Chapter of We Make Noise, a global music education nonprofit, they thought about how their own skill set would align with the needs of the community. Naturally, Westwater, a Cape Cod-born musician, turned their eye toward music, envisioning a festival by and for women, queer and gender-nonconforming artists.

Enter Beats by Girlz Fest, a one-day music festival that debuted downtown last year at City Hall. This year, in partnership with grassroots women’s organization Mass NOW, the free event returns as We Make Noise Fest, bringing performances by more than a dozen musicians and DJs and a mix of local vendors to Downtown Crossing beginning at noon on Aug. 24.

We Make Noise has grown to over 50 chapters worldwide since its founding 11 years ago by Erin Barra, initially as Beats By Girlz, where girls learned how to make electronic beats. The organization empowers women, girls and gender-expansive people in music and music technology

In We Make Noise Fest, Westwater saw an opportunity to do just that, and more, in Boston.

“I want Boston to be known as a music city in the same way that New York, L.A., Atlanta and Austin are,” Westwater said, adding that while the city’s music scene is “incredibly talented” it is also “under-resourced.”

We Make Noise Fest is funded through the city of Boston’s Neighborhood and Downtown Activation grant program, which alleviated the burden of “the hustle for making sure I have the funding for the vision,” Westwater said. The festival already has funding secured for next year’s installment, which “allows us to grow and to envision and to think longer-term,” they added.

Even with a small budget and just Westwater and a couple of interns running the show, last year’s inaugural festival was a success, thanks to a community effort. Volunteers showed up in “droves,” Westwater said, and We Make Noise partnered with Boston Women’s Market, an organization serving women small business owners, who managed all the vendors at the festival last year and will be doing so again this year. This will bring sellers who represent the demographics of the city of Boston, Westwater said, which is central to the festival’s pillar of diversity.

The stage will look the same, with a varied mix of artists, among them Cakeswagg, 1-800-Short-King, Amanda Shea and Kühlname, who were all selected for their “talent, charisma” and “professionalism on stage,” Westwater said. Westwater is also set to perform.

While Westwater selected all the artists last year, this year they issued a call for artists, enabling them to curate a lineup with a wide range of genres and music expressions.

“There’s so much gatekeeping in the music industry, and it is often minorities and marginalized people who do not get access to things beyond the gate,” they said. “And I wanted the process to be more open.”

Roxbury native Oompa, who will headline the show, knows how hard it can be to make a name as a musician with a minority identity. Although it’s been a “tough” and “long road,” she said, to get to where she is — having achieved national acclaim — she said she has found a community. With their support, she has performed at a Boston Celtics game at TD Garden, at the Boston Calling Music Festival and at Gov. Maura Healey’s inauguration.

We Make Noise Fest, she said, can ideally be a similar source of support for other people.

“There’s a lot of barrier-breaking … that happens when you’re a woman and a queer person in these artist spaces,” Oompa said. “And I think that when you have a place that says, ‘Actually, you don’t have to … jump over hoops, you don’t have to fight, you don’t have to advocate, you don’t have to be put in a box labeled because of your different identities, but in fact, we understand that, and this is a place where you’re invited,’ it makes it easier to center the art and the people and the community that deserves space like anyone else.”

Westwater’s goal is to foster a diverse music community in the city. We Make Noise Fest is just one part of that. Westwater is putting together programming for local musicians, including a songwriting and production camp in October geared toward semi-professional and professional musicians.

For now, Westwater said they hope the festival’s second installment will introduce people to We Make Noise as an organization.

“I’m just excited for it to be back,” they said, “because when you do something, once it just touches a few people, and the more you do it … the more that community can grow.”