Last year, a new festival held their first event in the Bay Area in California. Doll Fest describes itself as “a celebration of the feminine energy, friendship, and community gathering together in support of one another.” This year, Doll Fest is back! Volume II will be held THIS WEEKEND in Oakland, CA on March 28th and 29th with a pre-party on the 27th. And the lineup this year is just as jaw dropping and inspiring as the last.
We wanted to get in on the action, so we’ve asked the amazing bands a handful of questions about the festival including who they’re stoked to be playing with and what they think a festival of this caliber means to our scene.
We spoke with Christmas Kwon of the South Korea-based band 18Fevers about feminist punk, queer visibility, and what it means to bring both rage and love to a festival built around femme empowerment. She reflects on the emotional weight of playing a lineup like Doll Fest, channeling rebellion through music in a conservative culture, and why making space for people to feel seen, loud, and less alone matters more than ever. Check out the interview below and grab your tickets to Doll Fest today!
Interview
What does playing a femme-only festival like Doll Fest mean to you personally?
It is very exciting for me, I love the meaning and empowerment of Doll Fest and glad to be part of it 🙂
How does playing a festival like this shift the energy—on stage or in the crowd?
It definitely affects me in different ways compared to playing in small venues. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing in small venues every single time interacting with crowd in more intimate ways. Playing in big festivals like this make me super nervous than usual. But makes me also tear up feeling thankful looking at big crowds.
What would you want a younger version of yourself to feel seeing this lineup?
My younger self would think now me is so cool playing femme-only festival with these awesome bands, hahaha. She’ll be very proud.
Who are some femme artists—past or present—who have inspired you or paved the way?
Gosh, so many I have in mind. Joan Jett who always said fuck you to misogynistic society that says “women can’t play Rock n Roll.” Brody Dalle had a huge impact on me; the Distillers was one of my gateway punk bands.
In Korea, band ‘Jaurim’ has main vocalist Kim Yuna. I would say she had inspired lots of female musicians in this country. And Japanese band Maximum The Hormone has this amazing drummer, Nao. She opened my eyes by how badass and aggressive she is on stage with her amazing skills.
How does your identity influence your music, performance style, or the stories you tell?
I wouldn’t be making music without my identity. Being a feminist woman and part of queer community is hard in everywhere. Especially in Korea which is very conservative. I try to tell my experience as much as I could so people like me can listen to our music and not feel alone.
How does your lived experience show up in your lyrics or live performance?
I always felt connected to punk because the main sprit of punks are anger and rebel. That really shows in our live shows, showing lots of aggressive energy on stage. But also punk accepts everyone with who they are, so we try to spread love too.
What is one local or regional band near you that you want the whole world to know about and want them to play Doll Fest?
I got so many in my minds with this question too. Peach Truck Hijackers is what comes to my mind first. They play grungy hard rock and has awesome stage presence. I super recommend their song “Fuck You.”
Have you experienced moments where being a femme artist shaped how you were received in the music scene?
Definitely, in both good and bad ways. It’s 2026 and some people still thinks being a woman musician automatically means you can never be as good as male musicians, AND say that out loud. But no matter how I am perceived in other people’s eyes, I love being a woman and nothing can take that away from me.
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