The All Things Go Music Festival returned to the Merriweather Post Pavilion from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, bringing a lineup of 32 artists to the Washington, D.C. region for the festival’s ninth year. 

Starting as a music blog between friends in 2006, All Things Go has grown from its beginnings at Union Market to a two-day festival that features artists such as Mitski, Lorde, Lana Del Rey and boygenius, according to FiftyGrande website. 

Before artists hit the stage, All Things Go partnered with Spotify EQUAL to present the All Things Go Creator Summit, a discussion series bringing leaders in the music and media industries together to discuss equity in the music industry and creating social impact through the arts, according to the All Things Go website. 

The first panel, moderated by editor-in-chief of Nylon, Lauren McCarthy, was focused on empowering female artists and the importance of female artists in the live-music industry, according to Spotify. The panel focused on the importance of intentionality in advocacy work within the music industry.

Autumn Merritt, head of membership for Cities Without Houses at Soho House in D.C., said she spoke to that aspect of intentionality when curating spaces for representation. Merritt said one of the crucial aspects of representation is being conscious about who you’re bringing to the table, ensuring all different types of experiences are reflected in Soho House’s programming. 

“We are always very mindful about what representation looks like,” Merritt said. “Every year is the year of the woman. We are just making things happen at a rapid rate. And as long as there is intention behind it, it’s bound to be successful.”

Member of Spotify’s artist partnership team and Global Chair of Education for Women in Music Chissy Nkemere, said the pandemic expanded the opportunity for intentionality within the music industry. During the panel, she said that the pandemic changed not only the way people consume music, but also the way those in the industry interact with the audiences they’re selling to. 

“This fissure in the industry, I think really has pushed the people who are decision makers to be more creative and be more intentional about what they’re doing,” Nkemere said. “Not only does that impact the live part of the music industry, but it also impacts every other part of the music industry.” 

This year, All Things Go saw a record number of attendees, with about 20,000 people in attendance each day and a 32-artist lineup composed of mainly female and LQBTQ+ artists, according to Insider.

Kristina London, founder and executive director of Amplify Her Voice and social media manager for Golden Voice, said All Things Go represents the success of festivals that center female artists.

“I think, especially with the success of All Things Go this year, I think it speaks volumes that there’s this untapped, severe demand for women’s centered entertainment that takes women’s experiences, feelings and ideas seriously,” London said. 

Nkemere said that All Things Go shows how being intentional and successful within the music industry go hand in hand.

“I think that what we’re seeing with the strength of these tours and these live shows is pushing us all to be more intentional about how we listen, how we spend our money, how we interact with the work that we do and what we determine as important and impactful on a day-to-day basis.” Nkemere said. “All Things Go exists, and there are more and more of these opportunities and programs and festivals popping up so that they don’t have to exist in the future, because it’s just the standard.” 

While All Things Go prioritized intentionality within their lineup, the festival also focused on drawing attention to the influence music has to create social impact, according to Spotify. The second panel of the evening, moderated by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, spoke to the idea of inspiring action through the arts. 

Frost said one of the ways his office centers on inspiring action through the arts is by finding ways to bridge the gap between cool and consciousness. He said his office’s current work is staging a music festival in his home district of Orlando, Florida, bringing members of the community together for an event full of joy, while also connecting them to opportunities to engage and fundraise with different organizations.

At All Things Go, the festival focused on social action through the creation of an Impact Lounge, according to Director of Operations and Community Engagement at the Ally Coalition Geoffrey Morrissey. During the panel, Morrissey talked about the collaboration between Spotify and the Ally Coalition to create the Impact Lounge.

The lounge is a space where attendees could create hygiene packages by visiting tables of local and national organizations, according to Morrissey. Morrissey said that after the festival, the hygiene packages were given to organizations that would distribute the packages to kids experiencing homelessness in the district.

While talking about the intention behind the Impact Lounge, Morrissey said that the lounge shows that one of the most effective ways to create impact is through collaboration. 

“I think that collaboration and measuring impact go hand in hand because when you have more collaborators, there’s more impact to measure,” Morrissey said during the panel. 

In an interview conducted after the panel, Morrissey said an important aspect of creating that impact through the arts is engaging and collaborating with young people.

“Even folks that aren’t at voting age yet, engaging with them early and often when they’re in high school and middle school, and getting them familiar with these causes,” Morrissey said. “So, when they’re ready to go out and cast a ballot, they know exactly what they’re voting for. They know what they want to do and how they work. It’s very important to us.”

The arts can create significant change, according to Frost in an email interview conducted after the panel. He said it is important to connect young individuals to the community around them through the arts. 

“Encouraging young individuals to express themselves through artistic mediums fosters a profound sense of agency,” Frost said. “They begin to recognize that their voices, their stories, and their perspectives hold weight and can shape the world around them.”

Frost said an important step of collaborating with members of Generation Z is recognizing the diversity within their generation and their ability to create significant social impact. Frost said that engaging members of Gen Z who are eligible to vote now — as well as those who will be eligible to vote in the coming years — through the arts is an important step toward laying the groundwork for an inclusive and diverse democracy. 

“Through various forms of artistic expression, we can tackle complex issues, challenge norms, and provoke thought in a way that resonates deeply with people of all backgrounds,” Frost said. “Change doesn’t happen overnight and if we want to change our future, we have to reach out to the people who are our future.”