On Sunday, March 1st from 9:00AM – 5:00PM at the Providence Renaissance Marriott hotel at 5 Avenue of the Arts, join us for a RED TENT day for women.

What is the “Red Tent”?
• For a $10.00 admission fee, walk into the Red Tent area and
• Receive the following services, all available at no charge:
o Hair styling, makeup application, facials, manicures, massage, eyebrow threading, Reiki, Yoga classes, belly dancing, kick boxing, health screenings, mehndi tattooing, CPR classes, meditation, energy work, nutrition, herbalists, sexuality classes, skin cancer screenings, and so much more!
• Enter the tent in the ballroom for storytelling circles – a place for women to share their stories & wisdom
• Marketplace shopping area with women vendors from around the world
• Breakfast & lunch available in the Ladies Lounge area
• At the end of the day, leave felling loved, respected, pampered, celebrated, valued, honored & energized
• Event is open to women only – sorry guys!

In many cultures, such as Chinese, some African cultures, and the Romany culture, red is a symbolic color of strength or female power. The tent itself is rooted in an ancient Judeo-Christian-Islamic history of women’s gathering spaces. Women used to go to the red tent while they were giving birth or menstruating – they had to because the men in their communities feared contamination from these biological processes. Yet in the end, the red tents became community spaces where women went to learn from one another, to be in community, and above all, to celebrate life. We draw upon these numerous rich traditions when we call this project a Red Tent. Inspired by Anita Diamant’s novel, The Red Tent is a space and time to honor our stories and promote healing.

This event is strictly reserved for women (nothing personal guys!) We create this event to honor the women in our state and invite all women in our community to join us in this gathering and healing space. General admission is only $10.00 with all proceeds donated to the RI Crisis Assistance Center, a non-profit organization working with survivors of domestic violence & sexual assault.

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In March 2008, Providence held the first Until the Violence STOPS: Providence festival (www.peaceprovidence.com), part of the growing V-Day international movement. Created by noted playwright Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues”, the non-profit organization V-Day (www.vday.org) is working around the world to end violence against women and girls. The Providence Pussy Posse, a group of more than 30 Rhode Islanders who volunteer their time and energy towards ending violence against women & girls, will host the second UTVS: Providence festival from February 20 – March 1, 2009, with more than 15 events around the city, including productions of four theatrical events, a slam poetry night, a fashion show, a Red Tent day of healing, and a film festival.

This year’s entire festival is sponsored by The Providence Renaissance Marriott, NBC 10 and the Providence Phoenix, and each event of the festival will raise funds and awareness for a local organization that is working to end violence against women & girls in Rhode Island.

Vendors donating services or items for the Red Tent include Chestnuts Salon, Paul Mitchell school, Metropolis Salon, Faces Boston, The G Spot, Rondeau’s Kickboxing, Komina, Henna by Heather, The Peace Flag Project, Brown Medical Students for Choice, RI Red Cross, Boston Breast Cancer Walk, Pan Zhai, Comina, Rustigian’s, the Tibet Gift Shop, Peaceable Kingdom, Refined, Florentine Flowers, Design Within Reach, Providence PinUp, Sweet Indulgence, and many other community organizations and businesses.

For more information and a full schedule, please log on to our website at www.peaceprovidence.com.