# The women who built punk get their own festival

> Members of X-Ray Spex, the Raincoats, and the Slits share one Brixton stage for a night built around 50 years of She-Punk.
- Title: The women who built punk get their own festival | Shortify
- Summary: Members of X-Ray Spex, the Raincoats, and the Slits share one Brixton stage for a night built around 50 years of She-Punk. Women were never a side note in…
- Keywords: punk, music festivals, london, women in music, x-ray spex, women, built, get, own, festival, Rolling Stone
- Source: Rolling Stone — https://rollingstone.com/music/music-news/london-festival-god-save-the-queens-50-years-of-she-punk-1235625261
- Author: Larisha Paul
- Published: 2026-09-11T18:39:29+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: punk, music festivals, london, women in music, x-ray spex
## Fifty years of She-Punk
Up Yours! God Save the Queens! lands in London to mark half a century of She-Punk, pulling together artwork, photography, fashion, and archival material.
## One night, one supergroup
On Friday, Oct. 16 at Electric Brixton, members of X-Ray Spex, the Raincoats, and the Slits form a band for a single show.
## Who is actually playing
Gina Birch of the Raincoats and Hollie Cook of the Slits join X-Ray Spex's Lora Logic and Paul Dean, historian Vivien Goldman, and Celeste Bell, daughter of Poly Styrene.
## A book brought to life
Goldman wrote Revenge of the She-Punks to trace the global lineage of women who used music to break stereotypes. The Brixton night stages that lineage.

> This festival, and the incredible night we are putting together at Electric Brixton, is that book coming to life on stage.
## Not an afterthought
Goldman frames the whole thing as living rebel culture rather than a nostalgia set, with Big Joanie and Essential Logic also on the bill.

> the female narrative in punk is not an afterthought; it is a driving, evolving force
## Then the archive opens
A flagship exhibition follows on Oct. 23 at the Museum of Youth Culture in Camden, built on careful documentation and featuring never-before-seen images.
## Key takeaway

Women were never a side note in punk, and this festival puts the receipts on stage and on the wall.