The biggest lesbian party in the world - get the lowdon from Founder Mariah Hanson

To round up our feature of the month on International Women's Festivals we spoke to Mariah Hanson, founder of The Original Dinah Shore Weekend (aka The Dinah) shortly after the amazing 24th event, the biggest lesbian party in the world attracting in the regional of 15,000 women. 
Read about our experience at the 2014 party.

Planet London (PL): 24 years is a long time to run a festival; for anyone who hasn’t been – what should they expect and how has it evolved over the years?
Mariah Hanson (MH): It's the wildest and certainly the most fun filled five days imaginable. You can expect meeting thousands of women from all over the globe, as excited as you are to have the time of their lives. Expect top notch entertainment, seeing your favorite artists close up and personal and then don’t be surprised when after the concert they come on to the dance floor and party all night. Many have and we expect will keep on living up to the tradition that 'What happens at The Dinah, stays at The Dinah ;)
PL: No other event gets 15,000+ lesbians in one place every year, How do you keep the event fresh & growing? 
MH: I stay on top of the latest trends in music and we don't toy too much with the basic structure of the event. Basically we are five days of the most amazing girl parties imaginable.

PL: The introduction of the film festival has been popular, will the continue and will you be adding more similar events to the schedule?
MH: We are still growing the film festival and like to focus on our new endeavors before we add new options. That said, we have also added celebrity poker.
 
PL: This year was a stellar line up, with the L Word reunion, plus first timers Mary Lambert and Tegan & Sarah to name a few – how did it feel to have such top level entertainment? 
MH: We have top level entertainment every year. Past alumni have included Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, India.Arie, Salt and Pepa, Ke$ha, Natasha Bedingfield, Dev and The Cataracs, Colbie Caillat. At The Dinah, you can always expect amazing acts ;)
 
PL: So how on earth are you going to make the 25th Dinah Shore bigger and better? You’ve set quite a bar this year… 
MH: I'm thinking ... I'm thinking.