Monday, Jan. 22, marks the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade’s passage, but following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the right to abortion access in June 2022, it feels like there hasn’t been much to celebrate. Instead, there have been unrelenting attacks on abortion since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision came down, and local abortion advocates and allies often find themselves together in the worst of circumstances: crossing paths at rallies, phone-banking sessions, lobbying days, and other actions in response to the ongoing assault on reproductive health care. 

That’s why, in an effort to center joy and community amid these destabilizing attacks, tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 20), the DC Abortion Fund is announcing a three-day, three-night music festival at three landmark D.C. venues: Pie Shop, Songbyrd, and metrobar. Kicking off on May 16 and featuring more than 15 local artists, the festival hopes to provide celebratory spaces for abortion supporters, funders, and providers to gather. All funds from the festival will go to the DCAF, which supports abortion seekers living in or traveling to the D.C. area for care.

My Body, My Festival aims to celebrate D.C. and its continued access to abortion by highlighting local acts who describe themselves as proabortion. DCAF plans to announce the full lineup tomorrow but some stellar acts have already been leaked to City Paper including Pretty Bitter, Cherub Tree, Outerloop, Sneaks, Alex Hamburger, Amy K. Bormet, Veronica Faison, and Devon Williams. 

Each day of the festival is organized by genre and venue. The lineup for Thursday, May 16, features pop and punk artists who will play the Pie Shop stage where attendees can nibble and drink as they listen. On Friday, May 17, indie acts and singer-songwriters will take over Songbyrd for a coveted weekend night time slot. Finally, the festival concludes on Saturday, May 18, with a day of outdoor jazz and neo-soul performances at metrobar alongside a resource fair for attendees to learn more about engaging in local abortion activism beyond the weekend’s festivities.

My Body, My Festival draws inspiration from the 1991 to 2001 Rock for Choice concert series that featured Nirvana, Hole, and L7 as headliners (the latter band co-founded the series with LA Weekly’s music editor Sue Cummings). “After Casey v. Planned Parenthood and a series of abortion clinic bombings by domestic terrorists, huge artists came together for the Rock for Choice series. So many rock artists have been showing up and showing out for abortion for a really long time,” says Jade Hurley, DCAF’s communications manager and co-organizer of My Body, My Festival. “When we have nothing, we have to be imaginative and look to the future. But also we have to look back to our past.”

DCAF aims to bring this punk-rock abortion funding ethos into 2024 with My Body, My Festival. All funds from the festival will go to DCAF. As more and more people from across the county seek access to abortion funding, DCAF’s work is in a critical moment. Between June 2022 (the month Dobbs was decided) and September 2023 (the end of the last fiscal year), DCAF funded $2,681,955 toward abortion care for both D.C. residents and those traveling to the city for care—Hurley estimates that half of their grantees travel from other areas of the country to seek abortion access in D.C. 

While abortion is still legal in the District at any stage of pregnancy—including late-stage and third-trimester procedures—legislators in almost every actual state worked to restrict abortion access in 2023. The Guttmacher Institute, which researches sexual health and reproductive rights, reports that as of mid-December, 14 states enforce total abortion bans with limited exceptions, including two new bans that went into effect last year. Seven additional states restrict abortion access under limits that would have been unconstitutional under Roe.

Across the U.S., these bans make it increasingly difficult for people, especially lower-income people and those living in rural communities, to access abortion and general reproductive healthcare. Locally, the District has long served as a safe haven for abortion seekers from outside the DMV area due to our strong abortion laws and range of providers. Because of that, DCAF is a resource for a population far larger than the city limits. 

If the festival name sounds familiar, it’s because the first iteration of My Body, My Festival was a one-off concert to raise funds for abortion care post-Dobbs. Organized by Hamburger, a D.C.-based flutist, singer, and composer, and Bormet of the Washington Women in Jazz Festival, the Pie Shop concert in April raised more than $5,000 for DCAF. “It was such a beautiful and uplifting event and we were so happy to have everyone on board and so many people show up and donate,” Hamburger tells City Paper. “The DC Abortion Fund team and I really clicked and were so excited about doing an even bigger event.” Hamburger is now co-producing this year’s festival as Burger Sounds as well as performing. 

Co-organizers Hamburger and Hurley thought it was important to have a music festival created and executed by the people who live, organize, and make art in the city. My Body, My Festival taps into the expansive organizing power of D.C.’s local music and abortion advocacy through DCAF’s long-standing relationships with community organizations, artists, and small and locally owned businesses across the city. “You give us the bread and we’ll give you the roses,” Hurley says about the Fund’s approach to partnerships across the city. 

Metrobar gave DCAF access to their space for free. Jesse Rauch, the bar’s co-founder, tells City Paper, “metrobar celebrates what makes D.C. great—and DCAF is one of the great organizations here in the District. We believe in DCAF’s mission and how important it is, which is why we look for as many opportunities as possible to work together.”

Hurley and Hamburger hope that the collaborative spirit of the festival reminds folks that abortion isn’t all doom and gloom. “I hope that attendees will feel that they’re not alone,” says Hamburger. “I hope they’ll leave with new friends, new bands to follow and listen to, and plans to be a part of this amazing community of artists and activists that melds together in D.C. [I hope attendees see] the power that community and art have in fighting injustice and uplifting each other.”

My Body, My Festival is set to be a revolutionary celebration of D.C.’s strong local music scene, small businesses, and ongoing support for abortion access. Hurley describes it as new, transgressive, community-powered, and from the ground up, just like abortion funds.

“Abortion for many people is joy. It’s the best decision they’ve ever made. And we’re allowed to have that joy too,” Hurley says. “My Body, My Festival is not just joy, it’s also an action. Every ticket goes toward funding abortion. What’s better than that?” 

Tickets to My Body, My Festival go on sale tomorrow, Jan. 20, at 10 a.m. at mybodymyfestival.com when DCAF unveils the full lineup and festival details. The three-day event runs May 16 to 18.