By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

NORTH SHORE — A new festival celebrating women and providing a safe space for them to make new friends is coming to the Northside this month.

The inaugural Babesburgh Bash will take place at Allegheny Landing and along Isabella Street on June 29, from 3 to 8 p.m. The festival intends to be the first big annual celebration for Babesburgh, a women- focused organization that launched last summer. The group has held multiple events over the past year, including self-defense classes, networking events and even a brewery crawl.

“We’d like to do this every year,” said Cat Bruno, executive director of Babesburgh. “Every summer we want to have this kind of summer celebration, where we have a great time and celebrate all the people we worked with throughout the year.”

The Bash will feature multiple activities for attendees, including various fitness classes such as yoga and meditation, an artist alley with many female and non-binary artists doing demonstrations, a farmer’s market and more. There will also be representatives from many community organizations fit for a women’s festival, including Planned Parenthood and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Attendees have the option of buying a regular ticket for $20, which grants entry and access to all activities, or a $39 ticket, which includes a souvenir taster glass for sampling during the festival. There will be multiple breweries in attendance, such as Pittsburgh Beer Ladies and Burghers Brewing Co., to name a few.

Bruno said of the participating food and artisan vendors, 95% are women-owned or identify as women-owned. There will also be two Pittsburgh women DJs, as well as Pittsburgh musician Gabby Fike to provide tunes during the festival.

Bruno is no stranger to festival organization. Before starting Babesburgh, she worked with Barrel and Flow Festival, an annual brewery festival held in Pittsburgh. It was while working there that she got the desire to start a women-focused organiza- tion, leading to Babesburgh’s formation.

Babesburgh launched last July and has been holding events ever since. However, it was during an October networking event held at the Andy Warhol Pop District that one of the most pivotal moments for Babesburgh occurred, when Bruno met Leigh Frank.

Bruno said Frank has not only become a friend but a mentor to her, helping her develop and propel Babesburgh further. Frank said that she had been to many women-focused networking events before, but something about Babesburgh’s event felt different.

“There were women of all ages, all races, all ethnicities,” she said. “It was such a good vibe.”

Members of the Babesburgh leadership team gather near Allegheny Landing. Pictured, from left, are Amanda Mortimer, Cat Bruno, Clio Begnal, Shelley Meyer, Jackie Page, and Daelyn Schellhaas. Contributed photo

Frank said she “loved” Bruno’s energy and what she was doing, and offered to help. Frank now serves as one of the board members for Babesburgh, alongside others in a 10-person leadership team.

Frank has experience working on major events before, including serving on the boards for Picklesburgh and Light Up Night. When it comes to the Babesburgh Bash, Frank believes the appeal of the festival is a no-brainer.

“Who doesn’t want to spend a day celebrating women, enjoying yourself doing it, meeting new people and genuinely having a relaxing, great time?” she said. “I don’t know a woman alive who wouldn’t benefit from the experience.”

Frank said she is particularly excited about the attendance of The Open Road, a women-owned non-alcoholic beverage shop for adults. In addition, she’s looking forward to the participation of a henna tattoo artist.

While the festival is geared towards women and non-binary people primarily, Bruno stressed that men or people of any gender identification are welcome to come and attend.

As for why she chose Allegheny Landing as the venue, Bruno said the park had one of the “most underrated views of the city’s skyline.”

“It’s this kind of small urban park with this fantastic view and this kind of energy that’s amazing,” she said.

However, what really “sealed the deal” was the nearby historical marker for the Allegheny Cotton Mill Strikes. The marker commemorates a strike by women cotton factory workers protesting 12-hour work days which occurred in Allegheny City in 1845 and 1848. The strikes led to a law limiting workdays to 10 hours and prohibiting children under the age of 12 from working in cotton and textile mills.

With such a major accomplishment in women’s history occurring near the Landing, Bruno thought it made perfect sense for a women’s festival to be held there.

“When I saw that historical marker … it kind of made all of the pieces fall into place,” she said.

For more information about Babesburgh or the Babesburgh Bash, visit babesburgh.com. Tickets for the Bash or other Babesburgh events can be purchased at tickettailor.com/events/babesburgh.