Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery

As "Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" (2025 release from Canada; 99 min.) opens, we are backstage at the very first Lilith Fair show, in summer 1997. We then go back in time and are introduced to Sarah McLaughlin, as she grew up in Halifax under a very strict mother. Sarah couldn't wait to get out from there, and she eventually did, and how! She became a global star, and very soon started toying with doing a festival with nothing but female solo artists or female-led bands. At this point we are less than 10 minutes in the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is directed by Canadian Ally Pankiw. She received the full cooperation of Sarah McLaughlin and reportedly sifted through hundreds of hours of archive footage. The thought that the 1st Lilith Fair happened almost 30 years is a bit overwhelming to be honest. Many of the artists that participated in the 3 Lilith Fairs are interviewed today: Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, the Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and on and on. I was a recently divorced dad in 1997, and as soon as I saw the lineup I knew I wanted/needed, to go. I took my then 7 1/2 yo daughter with me. We saw all three Lilith Fairs that played at Riverbend here in Cincinnati in 97-98-99, and we had a blast. At one of the shows (I don't remember which exact year), we ran in the music critic of the Cincinnati Enquirer, a guy I knew as I saw him frequently at various shows. We struck up a conversation, and he ended up "interviewing" my daughter. Can you imagine how she felt? As the documentary concluded, I also couldn't help but wince when I see what has become of this country since the late 90's, with half the country determined to decimate women's health and other rights, deny/bash the LGTBQ community, trample voting rights, etc. If someone had predicted this in the Lilith Fair era, nobody would have believe it. That aside, this outstanding documentary is long overdue, but better late than never.

"Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery" premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim. The film is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It started streaming in late September (unbeknownst to me). When I stumbled on it a few days ago on Hulu, I immediately watched it. If you were at any of the Lilith Fair shows, or if you are just now becoming familiar with the now-legendary Lilith Fair, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Everything you need to know about this long-overdue documentary focusing on the groundbreaking Lilith Fair festival comes nearly an hour into the film.

In 1999, during the last year of the festival's initial three-year run, Sheryl Crow, a featured performer each of those three years, took a brief absence to perform at the ill-fated Woodstock '99 festival. Director Ally Pankiw juxtaposes footage from the testosterone-filled debauchery that characterized the weekend of a festival that prided itself on the mantra of "3 days of peace and music" with performances from the harmonious and all-inclusive environment that defined Lilith Fair. The irony speaks for itself.

There's no doubt that Sarah McLachlan deserves the accolades for stepping forward to curate a space for women to showcase their talent. That alone is something she should be admired and respected for, but what impressed me was the way she handled herself during the daily promotion for the festival. When questioned about the lack of diversity during Lilith's first year, instead of being defensive, she actually took the time to reflect on the performers on the bill, recognized the absence, and made changes to include artists from a wide variety of genres.

My only minor criticism centers around the 1998 Grammy Awards. Instead of performing separately at the ceremony, Lilith standouts, and Grammy nominees, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, and Sarah herself were asked to perform together on the show. They viewed it as being disrespectful. While I can certainly see their point of view, I think it was a way to highlight the festival's success by pairing the trio together. Again, they are certainly justified in their resentment of not being able to shine as individual artists, but I think it was a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

It's pretty eye-opening to hear women say that Lilith Fair was the one festival where they felt safe. You shouldn't have to worry about experiencing music in a live setting. If there is a key takeaway from this documentary, it's that, while this festival did impact change in the music industry, there's still a long way to go.

For all the people praising this doc, they should be asking themselves why a seminal and groundbreaking music and arts festival was worth less than two hours of screen time? To package all of these artists into 97 minutes is insulting: approximately THREE HUNDRED women acts were featured in its rotating lineup (69 in the first year!). How can you give three hundred women/acts only 97 minutes? Not only is the length criminally short and the material superficial as a result, but framing it as some mysterious event Gen Z has never heard of further reduces its relevance and necessity to our culture. Having lived through the era, we deserved more then, and we most definitely deserve a better doc now! Shame on ABC,

I thought this was a great documentary. The music and the musicians who were interviewed were stellar. I would have loved to hear more from others - but you work with what you have. With the current climate in the US - all I could think of was that we need another Lilith Fair; however Sarah's comments at the end provided good reasoning for why it would not happen on her watch (but we can hope!) She was one of the many voices of the female singer/songwriters and she still shines, along with all the others. Thanks for the memories and the music!

What a wonderful documentary and great behind the scenes look at the Lilith Fair experience. The interviews and concert footage was neatly woven into a compelling narrative, illustrating the challenges faced to get it off the ground, the highs of the performances and the shifting face of America as it came to an end.