There’s been a lot of talk lately about there not being enough female representation in festival booking – and for good reason. It’s surely not always an intentional exclusion of course, but is definitely worth discussing and calling attention to.

Festivals like Flight of the Valkyries and Metal Female Voices Fest aim to highlight and celebrate metal bands including ladies, which is an awesome step forward. When it comes to metal, you don’t have to look far to find your fair share of awesome girls who slay whatever instrument they touch, and a lot of them will soon appear at a fest or two with their bands. Really, it’s unfortunate that gender is even an issue, and many bands, including most of these, don’t call it to their attention. But in light of the This Is Hardcore statement and the general attitude towards women in music, we’ve compiled a list of bands featuring female musicians who can be seen this year at upcoming festivals. Note: this is more than a top five, and we’re not playing favorites, so these are all in no particular order.

Code Orange – Reba Meyers (guitar,vocals)

Code Orange guitarist/vocalist Reba Meyers and her band will be heading out on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival this summer, supporting Slayer and King Diamond in front of what will undoubtedly be some of the bigger crowds they’ve seen. This hardcore outfit have dropped the “kids” from their name,, and their phenomenal performance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest showed that they’re ready to play with the big boys.