It would be easy to miss the unassuming entrance to The Sultan Room, a small door wedged into the surrounding street-art painted architecture of northern Bushwick, if it were not for the line outside the door and the faint hum of the bass floating out from inside. On March 29, nearly 300 people were packed inside the venue to see the second-ever Girl Noise, a femme-fronted music festival “by girls, for girls.”

The Sultan Room was bustling with fans excited to hear either a long-time favorite artist or discover a new one. The lineup included a DJ set and performances from seven up-and-coming artists such as buffchick, Leyla Ebrahimi, and Speedrun, as well as the event’s founder, Simone.

The proceeds of all Girl Noise tickets sold went to The Lower Eastside Girl’s Club, a non-profit youth group for girls and gender expansive youth in NYC. 

The festival, now on its second iteration, was started by a group of four women, including singer-songwriter and public face of the event Simone Lipkin (Simone). Lipkin said the event was inspired by the late-90s all-female music festival Lilith Fair.

“They were getting all these women together, they were benefiting charity,” Lipkin said in an interview with the New School Free Press (NSFP). “I was realizing that there wasn’t a lot of that happening right now. It was one of those things where I wanted it to happen, so I was like, ‘Let me try to do it myself!’”

Beyond the music, Girl Noise featured a merchandise booth selling hand-printed items, a shopping area featuring pieces from Lipkin’s favorite woman-owned thrift shop Tired Thrift, and representatives from HeadCount, where attendees could check their voter registration status and even register on the spot.

The first Girl Noise, held in the same venue in June 2025, raised funds for the non-profit organization Girl Be Heard, and had representatives from the Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign recruiting volunteers and helping attendees register to vote.

“I want this to be driven by activism,” Lipkin said. “It’s important to me to let people know that’s kind of the driving force behind all of this — the political element of it.”

“It makes it feel bigger than just a show,” Lipkin said.

Aside from broader political motivations, Girl Noise is all about building community among music fans and solidarity among femme musicians. Lipkin opened the show by reading an excerpt from her personal journal. 

“What I hoped to create with Girl Noisewas a space for women to be their most unapologetic selves,” Lipkin read to the crowd. “A space where we could know we were safe and supported.”

“I’m so honored to be at Girl Noise,” performer Nina Lüders, a.k.a Speedrun, told NSFP. “I think [it] represents that expansiveness of people who come from all different walks of life sharing in the one universal language we all know — which is music.”

“Especially as … a female in the arts space, sometimes it really feels like we are ostracized or pushed to the side in favor of other artists,” HeadCount volunteer and FIT student CJ Griffith said. “A showcase that really features and uplifts these young female voices is really inspiring.”

“This is what happens when the girls show up for each other,” a representative from Lower Eastside Girl’s Club, Eileen Kelley, said to the sold-out room.

Lipkin’s set, which was supported by fellow Girl Noise organizer María Nido on guitar, was composed mainly of unreleased songs from her upcoming debut album — except for one cover of Selena Gomez’s “Who Says,” a song Lipkin believes represents girlhood. Lipkin was set to fly back to Nashville the morning after the festival to finish the album.

2026 marks only the second ever Girl Noise, but Lipkin hopes it will grow bigger in the years to come.

“When I first started this I already had big dreams for it,” said Lipkin. “I would love to grow this outside of New York … I’d love to do a tour … The bigger this gets, the more we grow, I want to make the impact even bigger.”