Event poster for 'GIRL EXPERIENCE,' June 20-23, 2024, at Downtown Pikeville, Kentucky, featuring names of performers and event details with floral and star graphics.

Year 4

2024 Event Memories & Accomplishments

  • Received Kentucky Foundation for Women 2023 Arts Meets Activism Grant & 2024 Radical, Timely & Urgent Grants

  • 28 Live Musical Acts performed in downtown Pikeville, KY 

  • 22 Workshops and Activities enjoyed by kids of all ages in the Pikeville City Park & downtown area

  • 17 Information Booths including UK Ovarian Cancer Screening Program & Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

  • 27 Appalachian Artisan Vendors, Crafters & Makers and Food & Beverage Trucks

  • Over 40 Art Gallery Participants including 20 Junior Artist participants, 30 Art Awards given

  • $2,000 raised and donated to our 2024 charitable entity, Oasis Farms

  • Mountain Grrl Artist Rhonda Gilliam’s artwork featured on The Mountain Association’s 2023 Christmas Card

  • Mountain Grrls were included in Pike County Tourism’s Holler Critters Game Cards Set Number 2

  • Art Gallery showcase at Mountain Arts Center

  • Free event for all!

  • Partnered with Can’d Aid and UPike at Healing Appalachia to help festival goers build and decorate 20 Ukuleles for an after-school music program for kids in East Kentucky

  • Featured speakers at BRIGHT Leadership Kentucky Conference, Mountain Arts Center, Prestonsburg, KY. “Women Creating Change-A Deep Dive into the Mountain Grrl Experience.”

Group of five smiling people, including four children and one adult woman, at an outdoor event in a park with green grass and trees.

Many thanks to our photographer friends Larry Epling and Lisa Sullivan for the photos and Jeremy Justice for the video!

2024 Highlight Video

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2024 Highlight Video 〰️

Two women are singing and dancing together in front of a band playing live music on stage.
Two women singing into microphones on stage with a man playing bass guitar, a cluster of pink balloons in the background, and one woman raising her hand.

The songs of Taylor Swift —Kick off Show!

A woman singing on stage with her arms raised and wearing a leather jacket and sparkly dress, with musical instruments and equipment in the background.

Photo/Video: Melissa Stillwell

Musician singing passionately with a microphone while band members play guitars in the background on stage.
Event poster titled 'Local Youth at The Grove' advertising a music celebration on August 24th in Kentucky featuring various artists, including Bell & the Starlight Revue, Wet Eyed Liars, Luna & the Mountain Jets, Jamie Resch & Whose Army, Chelsea Nolan, Jen Tackett, and Lacey Quinlan. The event starts at 6 pm CDT, suitable for all ages, with youth workshops and proceeds benefiting Hope Harbor.
Outdoor music and art display in a wooded setting with various signs, musical instruments including a small guitar, a cajón, a xylophone, and tambourines, and decorative items. Signs include motivational messages like 'Believe you can and you will' and 'Yes you can,' along with one promoting an instrument petting zoo and another for a craft experience.
Three women playing guitars and singing on an outdoor stage with trees in the background, under a wooden roof with string lights.
Outdoor table covered with colorful tie-dye cloth and art supplies, placed in a wooded area with logs and trees in the background. Decorations include signs with motivational messages and artwork on the ground.

We were proud to sponsor the SONGWRITERS WORKSHOP at this beautiful, all-female event in Glasgow, KY

MUSIC!

ART!

2024 Women in the Arts Exhibition

Click Here to See More!

WORKSHOPS!

FUN!

Holler Critter Cards

(by Pike County Tourism)

Mountain Grrls helping Mountain Grrls

Mountain Grrls helping Mountain Grrls

Oasis Farms informational infographic with sections on mission, vision, and values, including images of fresh produce and children at a farm.

We are SO PROUD to announce a $2000.00 charitable donation made by Mountain Grrl Experience to Jessy Workman and Oasis Farms.

Oasis Farms is a blooming social enterprise with a vision and a purpose to help mothers leaving abuse and reduce food insecurity and food deserts across Eastern Kentucky. They offer housing and jobs to their employees, who produce whole, organic food grown in permaculture systems that yield higher nutritional value, increase biodiversity, and keep prices of organic goods affordable.

What People Are Saying

“I truly enjoyed every activity that I was able to participate in this weekend! My personal favorite was the poetry workshop.”

This was my first but definitely not my last Mountain Grrl Experience!

“I felt safe in a public space and that is a rare thing in our current world.”

A yearly summer festival reminder that there are ones in Kentucky that are female run, festivals with female acts that are also worth your time and your money.

“Thank you so much for giving us an avenue to display our work.”

“I’m really proud of what happens out there every year.”

“Thank you all for creating a space for magic to happen.”

“Thank you all for making it easy for young kids to participate”

“This festival is really great and worth the trip! It’s a free event and the talent is crazy good!  We’ve only missed one and don’t plan on missing another!”

“Everything in the gallery was absolutely beautiful and creative.”

“Thank you all for making a great impact in the mountains and providing a platform for women to have a voice and be strong and independent. We appreciate all that your organization does in Eastern Kentucky.”

“What y’all are doing is important. It’s been important to me and it’s impacted lives all around me. Thank you for your hearts. I’m so glad to be a part of the world you’re changing.”

Circular design for the 2024 Great Mountain Girl Experience event, with a silhouette of a woman and mountain, surrounded by event details and floral accents.
Event poster for Bluegrass Music Night at the Mountain Girl Experience, featuring performances by Mia Lequire and the Appalachian Aires, and Sarah Kate Morgan, taking place on Thursday, June 20, from 7:30 PM to 9 PM, with a reception at 6 PM and an awards ceremony at 6:30 PM. The event is at the Appalachian Center for the Arts, Pikeville, Kentucky, with a suggested donation of $10.
Poster advertising a square dance event called Mountain Top Media Stage at Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville, Kentucky, featuring a drawing of a man and woman dancing, with a circular logo of a woman with a guitar and stars, and a worker wearing a hat and working at a desk in a hat.
Poster announcing a ballet performance by Kingsport Ballet featuring Rand and Ava, presented by Pike County Natives and Company Dancers. The duo performs a pas de deux depicting internal conflict of a woman fighting life's trials, at The Mountain Top Media Stage at the Arena, Saturday at 9:00 pm. The poster includes an image of two ballet dancers and the logo of The Mountain Girl Experience, a guitar with flowing hair and stars.
Event poster for Mountain Grrl Experience Women in the Arts Exhibition featuring artwork of two women, mountains, and trees, scheduled for June 20th, 2024 at 6 PM at the Appalachian Center for the Arts in Pikeville, Kentucky.
Advertisement for Holler Critters trading cards featuring a blue, yellow, and white cartoon critter with wings, standing next to a red pitcher labeled "KEWL AID."
Poster promoting a concert event called 'One Night Only,' featuring tribute to Taylor Swift with Mountain Grrl Version. The event is scheduled for February 9th at 7 pm at The Appalachian Center for the Arts. It includes performances by various female artists such as Chelsea Nolan, Emily Jamerson, Jen Tackett, Bek Smallwood, Kris Preston, Austin Collins, Johnny Pop Day, Waylon Nelson, Zoe Howard, and Brittany Avery Mullins. The poster displays photographs of several musicians, some with instruments, and art illustrations of women’s profiles.
Concert poster with a mountain landscape background. Features logos for The Mountain Girl Experience and Pit House. Promotes MOUNTAIN MEN event supporting mountain women, with performers Tim Goodin, Sean Whiting & The Big Badness, and Brett Noland. Scheduled for March 23, 2024, with doors at 6 PM and music at 7 PM. Tickets are $15 at the door.