The 2026 Fourth Wave Fest celebrated women in music while supporting survivors.
by Carlotta Schmidt
When I said to my family in 2023 that I wanted to start my own Lilith Fair, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had absolutely NO idea how much work it takes to organize and produce a music festival at the ripe old age of sixteen. I also had no understanding of what my idea would become, but I’m very happy with what it turned into. It turned into Fourth
Wave Fest, an all-day music festival featuring exclusively women-led bands. Eventually, my co-producer/manager/mom, Heather Bedenko, and I decided to make it a fundraiser for 180 Turning Lives Around, a local 501(c)(3) that helps survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. We put our blood, sweat, and tears into organizing Fourth Wave Fest (or as we often call it, FWF), and we made it happen. Then we decided to do it again, and then again, most recently with our third Fourth Wave Fest.
The third annual Fourth Wave Fest was at House of Independents in Asbury Park last week on Sunday March 1st. In my opinion, it was a massive success! We had six AMAZING women-led bands (including my own), from all walks of life and genres: Dana Fuchs, Carlotta Schmidt and The Bold, Erene, Kat Rivers & the Second Sight, Layonne Holmes, and The Outcrops. You might recognize our headliner, blues-rock artist, Dana Fuchs’, name from her roles in the Golden Globe nominated film, Across the Universe and the off- Broadway musical, Love Janis, in which she played the titular role. The Outcrops, an energetic blues band, was recommended to us by JSJBF’s very own Tom Baldino and we were thrilled with his suggestion. The remaining acts (including my band) spanned genres from hard rock to R&B to singer/songwriter.
Along with our acts, we had many other activities at FWF. As always, we had over $1000 in door prize giveaways all day. The door prizes were from local businesses and included prizes like gift certificates, merch, and gift baskets. This year, we also had special door prize giveaways for kids (which included a $100 gift card for Gianni’s Pizzeria, free ice cream sandwiches from The Baked Bear, and much more). We also had speakers from 180 and their community partner, Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen, who shared information about their wonderful and wide-ranging programs. Other activities included a kid’s craft table, a singalong of This Little Light of Mine, a short documentary on Lilith Fair, an interactive quiz on Lilith Fair, and a mini breathwork session with Jackie Bilancia. Food from an Asbury Park restaurant, MacroBites, was delicious and available for purchase at FWF.
One of the biggest additions to this year’s roster of events was our FWF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Our inductees were women who have demonstrated a commitmentto serving and uplifting their communities with their time, talent, and resources. Our two inductees were Jaimee Katz Sussner (member of the firm at Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C., our biggest sponsor for all three festivals) and Nicole Dorrity (program manager at JBJ Soul Kitchen). You can learn more about them on our website, wwwfourthwavefest.org.
This year, we raised the most money for 180 yet. Our sponsors included Sills, Cummis and Gross P.C., Starfield Companies, Advocare Beyond Pediatrics and others. We were also thrilled to be able to pay all of our artists a living wage through sponsor donations, including a generous donation from JSJBF. Other sponsors in this category (which is called “I’m With The Band”) included Circle Subaru, Schwartz Mazda, the Sussner Family, and myself. You can learn about all of our sponsors on our website. We were also so pleased to have six fantastic organizations be our community partners: JSJBF, Garden State Equality, JBJ Soul Kitchen, Kiwanis Club of Asbury Park, Vin Gopal Civic Association and Women and Girls Education International (WAGE). Thank you to Tom and Joanne Baldino for being at FWF to represent JSJBF and support us!
The most important thing we do at Fourth Wave Fest is raise awareness about the lifesaving work that 180 Turning Lives Around does. Probably 70% of the people we talk with about Fourth Wave Fest have never even heard of 180. But once they learn about them, they are in awe of everything 180 does. As they should be. I’ve seen the impact of their services in real time. I know people who reached out to 180 to get the help that they needed because they learned about them through Fourth Wave Fest. There are people, who I personally know, who made that first step because of our work. That means so much to me.
YouTube: Aretha Franklin’s Respect, feat Carlotta Schmidt and the Bold, Erene, Kat Rivers, and Layonne Holmes
We also get to highlight so many incredible women artists. If you’re active in our local industry (and/or the regional and national industry), you know that women musicians don’t always get all the opportunities they deserve. That’s the main reason I started Fourth Wave Fest, to highlight and uplift women musicians in our community. And we have done just that. I’m so proud of what my mom and I have accomplished with Fourth Wave Fest. We helped a lot of people. We uplifted women musicians. We met so many amazing people.
And I will always be grateful for all of that. If you’d like to learn more about Fourth Wave Fest, please visit our website www.fourthwavefest.org. To learn more about and donate to 180 Turning Lives Around, please visit www.180nj.org