The British singer will have nothing to be frustrated by at this weekend’s All Things Go Fall Classic at Union Station. Not only is Plapinger performing at the two-day festival, she helped curate the entire first day’s eclectic lineup.

The opportunity arose last fall when Plapinger and her musician friend Maggie Rogers were kicking around the idea of hosting a female-led festival. Around the same time, Plapinger was speaking with another friend, Stephen Vallimarescu, about the lack of opportunities for women to headline festival bills.

Vallimarescu, one of the founders of D.C.-based music blog All Things Go, was in the process of planning the website’s annual Fall Classic music festival for 2018. Besides agreeing to perform at the festival, Plapinger and Rogers had an idea: They wanted to help shape the lineup, with the first day’s roster composed entirely of female and nonbinary acts. It was a big swing that no D.C. festival on the same scale had done in recent memory.

“Lizzy and Maggie have been vocal about gender inequality in festivals for a long time,” says All Things Go co-founder Zack Friendly. “We saw this as an opportunity for them to give more women an opportunity to have headlining slots.”

Since its inaugural show in 2014, the Fall Classic has aimed to foster musical discovery, not just spotlight buzzy, big-name bands. Swedish pop singer Tove Lo and Norwegian DJ Kygo were two of the early headliners who went on to sell out venues and win awards.

“To use [All Things Go’s] platform as an opportunity to spark this conversation [on gender inequality] and to give Maggie and I the autonomy to book the artists that we see fit is amazing,” Plapinger says.

Similar-sized local festivals Trillectro and Broccoli City boasted female headliners this year, but the majority of their acts were male. Outdoor retail giant REI attempted to host a new female-led music festival — REI Outessafest — in Maryland and North Carolina before canceling the event in August due to poor ticket sales. Despite the seemingly bleak landscape, Plapinger feels a female-focused Fall Classic can generate enough interest.

“We want to show from a business perspective that there’s a desire and craving to have these events, and that putting more women on the bill is in no way going to undervalue it,” she says.

Ticket sales look promising: The festival is expected to draw 10,000 this weekend, according to All Things Go. Besides Rogers and LPX, Saturday’s female-

forward lineup features electronic artist Billie Eilish, budding pop star Jessie Reyez and neo-soul singer Ravyn Lenae. While the festival’s gender balance has shifted from years past, the focus on emerging artists remains the same.

“Our entire goal is to find artists that you may not have heard of, but you trust us enough that you know that you’re going to like them,” Friendly says.

Sunday’s lineup is equally diverse, with headliner Carly Rae Jepsen, synth-pop singer Betty Who, producer Cautious Clay and D.C.-based soul duo FootsXColes. BØRNS had been tapped to be Sunday’s second headliner, but recent allegations of sexual assault from multiple women resulted in the musician’s removal from the lineup. Pop band MisterWives will take his place.

“We hope, in all years and especially this one, that the Fall Classic continues to be part of making the music world a better, more equal place,” All Things Go said in a statement regarding the decision to cut BØRNS.

Whether or not this year’s Fall Classic sparks a larger trend of inclusivity on festival lineups, at least it’s a good start, Plapinger says.

“It isn’t about women coming out on top,” she says. “It’s about women and men working hand in hand to show that there is a need and desire for gender balance to exist in the world, and especially within festival culture.”

Union Market, 1309 Fifth St. NE; Sat. & Sun., noon, $65-$75 per day ($95-$109 for two-day pass).

Powerful words

All Things Go’s Fall Classic is introducing a panel event — Classic Conversations — the day before the festival, centered on women in music and entrepreneurship (Eaton Hotel, 1201 K St. NW; Fri., 5-8 p.m., free with RSVP). Panelists include festival performers Lizzy Plapinger and Maggie Rogers, Women’s March co-president Tamika D. Mallory, National Cannabis Festival founder Caroline Phillips and “Vice News Tonight” correspondent Gaby Wilson.