Along with First Friday, the third annual Ladyfest will take place downtown tonight through Saturday.

Ladyfest is an all-ages event at c}space, a volunteer-based community arts and entertainment venue, located at 20 N. Jefferson St. This three-day festival is dedicated to celebrating the art, music and voices of women.

Friday's activities run from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday's activities run from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday's activities run from 3 to 8 p.m. A suggested donation of $10 for admittance will be donated to local charities.

"We really wanted to showcase the talented female artists in the area because the majority of the festivals were male dominated," said Mary Kathryn Burnside, the festival's main coordinator. "What we are looking for is to bring something different and cool to Dayton."

According to the festival's website, Ladyfest will feature bands, musical groups, performance artists, authors, and spoken word and visual artists.

The road to Friday's Ladyfest began when a friend of Burnside's attended the original Ladyfest in Olympia, Wash. After that, Burnside and her friend both agreed to bring something similar to Dayton.

The Dayton Ladyfest has since evolved from a simple concept to an annual event.

Burnside said she is optimistic about this year's festival.

"Ladyfest is going to be just really laid back with all types of different people with something for everybody," she said.

Many musical genres will be represented at Ladyfest, Burnside said.

"We have a little bit of everything music wise; hip hop, folk, punk [and] indie," she said.

One of these bands is Cincinnati-based "hybrid folk, pop and electronic" band The Seedy Seeds.

"This will be our third year performing," said the band's guitarist, vocalist and accordion player, Margaret Darling. "We've had so much fun in the past; we couldn't pass it up."

Darling is a "true believer" in the festival and supports its goal of generating appreciation of the arts.

"I'm excited my band will be involved again with a festival that aims to bring attention to women artists within the greater Dayton community and that gives a platform for those artists to share and network," Darling said.

For more information, visit the Dayton Ladyfest's Facebook page.