The Strength of a Woman Summit is back in Atlanta. Here’s where to stay when you go

Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman Summit is back for another year and the ladies are continuing to take over ATL. The R&B songstress made the announcement on International Women’s Day that the summit would be back for its second year in collaboration with Pepsi and Live Nation Urban on May 11-14 at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.

The weekend will kick off with “An Evening with Robert Glasper,” featuring the Grammy Award-winning R&B artist on May 11 at City Winery. The 12th and 13th will feature arena shows, including a #HipHop50 celebration where Mary J. Blige is slated to perform lesser-performed tracks, in what’s being dubbed as “MBJ B-Sides.” The performance line-up is set to include Jeezy, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Lucky Daye, Coco Jones and more. The weekend will wrap up on the 14th with a comedy show featuring Mike Epps, a gospel brunch, and The Purpose Ball, hosted by media personality Miss Lawrence. The ball will include a special performance from Saucy Santana and aims to celebrate the LGBTQ community and their impact on pop culture.

In between performances, the Strength of a Woman Summit will also host panels and workshops on a variety of topics such as music, wellness, tech, beauty and financial literacy with the hopes of empowering BIPOC women. All will be done in collaboration with local, minority and female-owned businesses.

The Strength of a Woman Summit was created by Blige in 2022, alongside an all-Black, female-led team consisting of Blige, Nicole Jackson, VP of MJB Inc., and Ashaunna Ayars of the Ayars Agency.

“I’m so excited to bring our Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit back to Atlanta for its second year,” said Blige, per Variety “Having the opportunity to continue to uplift, inspire, and build amongst a community of women is the reason why we created this festival. I’m so grateful for all of the support from our performers and participants and of course Live Nation Urban, Pepsi and our additional partners who are committed to celebrating and creating community for Black women.”

Jackson added, “The popularity and impact of the inaugural Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit successfully showed how and why Black women are the blueprint for cultural relevancy and inclusion. Being able to look back and see the global reach the festival had through our live stream and billions of media impressions is confirmation that we are filling a void in the festival space. Mary, Ashaunna and myself are overjoyed to be back in Atlanta again and look forward to continued expansion in our programming and partnerships.”

Tickets are available for purchase at www.soawfestival.com. Here at Detour, we of course encourage you to make the best of any trip, no matter how short or long. Because the Strength of a Woman Summit will primarily be in downtown Atlanta, live like a queen in these lavish ATL hotels.

The Candler Hotel Atlanta, Curio Collection by Hilton

This hotel is part of Atlanta history. The Candler was built by Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler in 1906 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The sleek, classic style coupled with art deco glamor makes for a unique stay.

Hotel Clermont

Located on the historic Ponce de Leon Avenue, Hotel Clermont is a nod to the ‘70s. The hotel only has 94 rooms, making it a more intimate, but memorable stay. According to its website, the Hotel Clermont “has been a host to many characters and events – most good, some bad, all interesting.” Conde Nast Traveler says it’s Atlanta’s most talked about hotel, but that you’ll have to “stay here to see why.”

Reverb by Hard Rock Atlanta

If you’re going to MBJ’s summit, chances are you’re a fan of live music. Reverb has you covered, as their RT60 Rooftop Bar features live entertainment. And if you’re wanting to turn your weekend trip into an extended stay, Reverb’s website has city guides curated by local artists from CeeLo Green to Big Boi.

Glenn Hotel

A boutique hotel in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, Glenn Hotel captures the city’s modern and sophisticated Southern charm and hospitality. Atop the historic digs is the SkyLounge which has gorgeous views of the city and is the perfect place for you and your girls to recap each eventful day of the summit.

Roshae Hemmings is an arts and culture magazine journalist from St. Louis, MO. A graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism, Roshae has bylines in the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine and 5280 Magazine discussing topics ranging from pop culture, social justice and eat and drink. She is a foodie at heart and enjoys eating food as much as learning about the story behind it. When she’s not working on a story, Roshae enjoys cooking, watching and analyzing reality TV, and spending time with family and friends.

This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 1:38 PM with the headline "The Strength of a Woman Summit is back in Atlanta. Here’s where to stay when you go."